USA vs Turkey: Friendly Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

This next Saturday, at Rentschler Field in Hartford, the United States will host Turkey in a friendly match, the first between the two teams in over ten years.

The United States finished in fourth place in the CONCACAF Nations League, losing 2-1 to Canada for the bronze medal. In the UEFA version of the same tournament, Turkey advanced to League A after defeating Hungary 6-1 in an aggregate playoff.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

The United States has ended their reign as champions in the Nations League for the first time in the league's history. Mauricio Pochettino, the former manager of Tottenham and Chelsea, has little time to prepare the squad for the World Cup, and the team has been struggling as a result. The US team is on the verge of losing three games in a row for the second time in under a year, and their current losing streak is longer.

The men's team has played eight games at Rentschler Stadium, with four wins and one loss. In their past two encounters against the Turks, the US has come out on top with 2-1 home scores. Turkey's two playoff matches versus Hungary in March were decisive, rewarding a good League B campaign earlier this year.

Vincenzo Montella's next objective is to ensure the squad qualifies for the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico next year. The Crescent Stars have scored 16 goals in their past eight matches across all competitions, but have not won back-to-back road games since June last year. Turkey is the only team to win a match against a CONCACAF opponent this century.

USA vs TurkeyTeam News

Folarin Balogun will be unable to participate in either this friendly or the next CONCACAF Gold Cup due to an ankle injury. Meanwhile, Patrick Schulte will be sidelined with an oblique injury, Antonee Robinson will be out for a short while with a minor knee injury, and Yunus Musah will not be playing due to personal reasons.

While Quinn Sullivan, Damion Downs, Sebastian Berhalter, Nathan Harriel, Alexander Freeman, Matt Freese, and Chris Brady are all vying for their first caps with the national team, Christian Pulisic has sought a break following a tough season with AC Milan.

On Saturday, Patrick Agyemang will head back to his hometown of East Hartford after scoring the game-winning goal in their loss to Canada in their last match.

Mustafa Erhan Hekimoglu, Demir Ege Tiknaz, Mustafa Eskihellac, Yasin Ozcan, Berke Ozer, and Muhammed Sengezer are the six uncapped Turkish players that Montella selected for this friendly.

Hakan Calhanoglu, the captain, is three games short of 100 appearances and, together with Cenk Tosun, is one goal short of sharing third place all-time with Tuncay Sanli.

In their last encounter, Ugurcan Cakir recorded a clean sheet despite goals from Arda Guler, Abdulkerim Bardakci, and Calhanoglu.

Our predictions

Turkey to win @ 2.85 on Sky247.ng

Even with its top players available, the United States has struggled to defeat regional opponents recently. We anticipate that they will have a tough time containing a motivated team that has depth and consistency in their attacking third.

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