Gold Cup betting tips: Jamaica’s Premier League quality good enough to test the United States
- George Dempsey
- 22 June 2023
The Gold Cup kicks off this weekend as the United States play host to Jamaica at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup kicks off this weekend as the United States welcomes Jamaica to Soldier Field in Chicago.
Suggested bets
USA vs Jamaica verdict
The US will be hoping to build on their recent dominance of the region and build on a second consecutive Nations League title with more silverware.
The Reggae Boyz should provide stiff opposition and given the amount of Premier League quality in their ranks, it's unlikely they'll be a pushover.
The hosts have rested the majority of the senior group who lifted the Nations League trophy with wins over Mexico and Canada earlier this month.
In their place is a largely domestic squad full of MLS players, nicely supplemented by several Nations League survivors such as DeAndre Yedlin.
The bulk of this group's caps belongs to the previously mentioned Inter Miami defender, along with Jordan Morris, Aaron Long and Cristian Roldan.
Those four combined have made 194 appearances for the Stars and Stripes which is more than the rest of the group, 14 of which have made fewer than 10 appearances.
Ordinarily, you'd struggle to make a case for the visitors beating the States in their own backyard.
However, Berhalter's side will need to field an inexperienced midfielder while Jamaica's inexperienced inclusions are likely to be Premier League players such as Ethan Pinnock and Michail Antonio.
The spine of a good US team is there, particularly the defence, but they haven't come up against attackers of this quality in CONCACAF very often.
Antonio, Bobby Decordova-Reid, Leon Bailey and Demarai Gray, who recently switched allegiance from England, could form a dangerous attacking quartet.
The Reggae Boyz lined up in a 4-4-2 for their 2-2 draw in Mexico so it's possible the starting eleven could accommodate all four of those attackers.
Both of these sides will fancy their chances of winning their remaining games and finishing in the top two, so a draw isn't a disastrous start.
Jamaica do tend to score and they'll only get better with the players they've drafted in, so backing both teams to score could be a good bet.
