Panama take on the visitors El Salvador in the round 3 match of Gold Cup group stage. The match will be played on Wednesday, June 5th at Shell Energy Stadium (Houston)
Having won two matches out of two, Panama has secured its place in the playoffs as the group leader. Essentially, the match against El Salvador becomes a friendly for the Panamanian team. Naturally, they won't intentionally lose, but they might conserve their strength as favorites for the quarter-finals. The defense of Thomas Christiansen's team is not perfect. In the previous matches that had tournament significance, Panama conceded a goal against both Costa Rica and Martinique, defeating both opponents with an identical score of 2-1. It is highly likely that Panama will concede in their third group stage match, which essentially doesn't determine anything.
| 2 x £10 Free Bet | Review | |||
| 100$-500$ for No Lose Free Bets | Review | |||
| 100% up to £200 | Review | |||
| Not available | Review |
In theory, El Salvador still has a chance to reach the playoffs. Yes, the chances are very slim, but mathematically they are still alive. They need to defeat Panama in their match and hope for Costa Rica to defeat Martinique in the parallel battle. In that case, if El Salvador and Costa Rica have the same number of points and a draw in their head-to-head match, the goal difference will be the deciding factor. I fully realize that it won't come to that because I don't believe in El Salvador's victory. But why am I describing all this and where am I leading? To the point that it makes no sense for Hugo Perez's team to sit back and defend against Panama in this, most likely their last match in the tournament. They will likely attack with all their strength. Considering Panama's defense is not the best and their lack of motivation, I firmly believe El Salvador will score a goal.
Panama's first-place finish in the group is already secured. The favorite in the final round before the playoffs can afford to relax and conserve energy for the decisive part of the tournament. Based on this, a bet on El Salvador scoring looks quite logical, especially considering they have scored against this opponent in their last three head-to-head matches. Let me remind you that Panama has not kept a clean sheet in the tournament so far. So, at the very least, one goal conceded by them is unlikely to surprise anyone. The bet is that El Salvador will score!
Prediction for the match: El Salvador to score – yes.
