The United States men’s national team may enter the second leg of the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal with Jamaica with a 1-0 lead, but it’s not a comfortable one. Jamaica out shot the USMNT in Kingston and had a penalty saved by Matt Turner after Ricardo Pepi’s goal. Both teams will be dealing with injuries in the second leg, and the USMNT will have to work past it because having a favorable goal difference will be important for seeding in the semifinals.
Tim Weah will return from his suspension offering a boost to the USMNT attack while Brenden Aaronson also returned to training following an illness. So, while the USMNT will be down two midfielders in Johnny Cardoso and Adian Morris, they’ll gain a few players in this skeleton squad.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
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How to watch and odds
- Date: Monday, Nov.. 18 | Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Location: CITYPARK — St. Louis, Missouri
- TV: TNT | Live stream Fubo (Try for free)
- Odds: United States -215; Draw +305; Jamaica +575
Storylines
USMNT: Mauricio Pochettino confirmed that Weah will feature in the match during his pre-match press conference, and it’s likely that he’ll slot right back into the starting XI allowing Yunus Musah to return to midfield. Without Morris and Cardoso, Pochettino will be down to a 23-man squad to see them through this match, but if the defense can pitch another shutout, that will be enough to advance, already having a lead. It’d be nice to have a comprehensive victory after struggling in the first leg of play, but not having so many regulars at their disposal can make that tough to do. Pochettino is quickly finding out what he has in depth options around the side.
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USMNT predicted XI: Matt Turner, Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, Joe Scally, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Malik Tillman, Christian Pulisic, Ricardo Pepi, Tim Weah
Jamaica: Also facing injuries, Steve McClaren will be without Ethan Pinnock while Mason Holgate is suspended. Las Vegas Lights FC forward Khori Bennett has been added to the Jamaica squad to provide depth because there’s another weird situation keeping players from appearing. Michail Antonio and Kaheim Dixon ‘lost passports, it was too late to get new ones and to get visas to come over here, so they are missing,’ McClaren said in his pre-match presser.
Antonio was already suspended from the first leg of the Nations League quarterfinals but now he won’t feature at all for the Reggae Boyz. Holgate is also suspended so for McLaren to pick up a result, he’ll need his team to be at their best. Leon Bailey was able to create chances in the first leg of play and they’ll need more from him to overcome these absentees.
Jamaica predicted XI: Andre Blake, Gregory Leigh, Damion Lowe, Amari’i Bell, Di’Shon Bernard, Dexter Lemmbikisa, Demarai Gray, Joel Latibeaudiere, Kasey Palmer, Leon Bailey, Shamar Nicholson
Prediction
Returning home the USMNT will take care of the job at hand moving one step closer to a fourth consecutive Nations League title. Pick: USMNT 2, Jamaica 0
