Mexico vs Trinidad and Tobago preview, team news and prediction: CONCACAF Gold Cup

Mexico will take on Trinidad and Tobago in the Group A match of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on 11th July at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington. With victories over Panama and Nigeria, Mexico is in perfect shape coming into their first match of the tournament, while Trinidad and Tobago just made it here thanks to a decisive win over French Guiana.

Team Preview

Mexico

Mexico enters this competition as the highest-ranked team in CONCACAF (11th), making them heavy contenders to win the Gold Cup for the second year in a row. With a number of known players returning from their victory in 2019, as well as some fresh talent entering the field, this team appears to be even stronger than they were two years ago.

Since 1991, Mexico has never failed to advance from the group stage, finishing first or second every time. With three opponents they haven’t lost against in over a decade, it’s likely that pattern will persist which may be good news for the team’s substitutes, who may get a chance to play if the Mexicans dominate early on as predicted.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago are returning to the Gold Cup for the second time, but the path to get here was very difficult this time, as they had to beat French Guiana 8-7 in a thrilling penalty shootout. Their performance in Gold Cup 2019 is one they’d prefer to forget, as they lost their opening match 2-0 to Panama before being thrashed 6-0 by the United States and finishing with a 1-1 draw against Guyana.

This side has not won a group stage match since 2015, thus collecting three points has been difficult for them. They would look to end this poor run and start this year’s campaign strongly.

Mexico vs Trinidad and Tobago: Head-to-Head

Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago have faced each other in 25 matches with the former having a clear edge winning 16 games to Trinidad’s four victories. They last encountered in 2019 with Mexico winning the game 2-0.

Recent Form

Mexico: WLDWW

Trinidad and Tobago: DDWWW

Team News

Mexico

Mexico will miss the services of Raul Jimenez due to a concussion that he suffered in the Premier League.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago have no injury concerns and are expected to play with their ideal line-up.

Probable Playing XI

Mexico

Alfredo Talavera; Luis Rodriguez, Gilberto Sepulveda, Carlos Salcedo, Osvaldo Rodriguez; Hector Herrera, Edson Alvarez, Orbelin Pineda; Manuel Corona, Funes Mori, Hirving Lozano

Trinidad and Tobago

Nicklas Frenderup; Ayana Russell, Justin Garcia, Triston Hodge, Curtis Gonzales; Duane Muckette, Reon Moore, Khaleem Hyland, Marcus Joseph; Kevin Molino, Ryan Telfer

Final Prediction

Mexico are expected to win this game owing to the balance and solidarity in their squad. They also have a great record against Trinidad and Tobago and would look to continue that this time.

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