Mexico – Costa Rica SOCCER PICKS
Mexico and Costa Rica meet at Estadio Universitario de Nuevo León, in a friendly match. This is the 9th friendly of the year in Mexico, after friendlies against the United States, Uruguay, Denmark, Scotland, Wales, Croatia, Iceland and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In the case of Costa Rica, this is their 8th friendly of the year, after previous friendlies against Japan, the Republic of Korea, Belgium, England, Northern Ireland, Tunisia and Scotland. The history of recent direct confrontations is favorable to the home team, which records 1 win and 3 draws in the last 4 matches. The last direct confrontation between these two teams, on 06-09-2017, ended with a draw by (1-1). In this game the home factor may be decisive, since both teams present considerable differences in the results achieved at home and as a visitor.
Mexico:
This is the 9th friendly match of the year for the home team, after previous friendlies in which they registered the following results: United States (1-0) Mexico, Mexico (1-4) Uruguay, Denmark (2-0) Mexico, Mexico (1-0) Scotland, Mexico (0-0) Wales, Mexico (0-1) Croatia, Mexico (3-0) Iceland and Mexico (1-0) Bosnia-Herzegovina. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 5 wins, 5 draws and 5 losses in away matches, with 17 goals scored and 20 conceded; against 9 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses at their stadium, with 17 goals scored and 12 suffered. In the last 6 home matches for Mexico, Mexico have 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. In their home matches there is a tendency for few goals, since 10 of the last 23 matches they played ended with Under 1,5 goals. In 8 matches in this tournament, he suffered the first goal 4 times and never got the comeback.
Mexico enters this game unmotivated, after a foreign snub, 1-0, in the visit to the United States. The Mexican team usually acts in a 4-3-3, favoring a slower style of play, channeling their attacks, preferably, through the central corridor. In this tactical design, the three players usually chosen to act in the line of attack are Alvarado, Zaldívar and Lainez. However, being a friendly match, it is clear that the coach of Mexico opts to give a chance to less used players, such as Alan Pulido, Jonathan dos Santos and Jesus Angulo.
Costa Rica:
The visiting team disputes its 8th friendly of the year. In the previous friendlies it registered the following markers: Japan (3-0) Costa Rica, Republic of Korea (2-0) Costa Rica, Belgium (4-1) Costa Rica, England (2-0) Costa Rica, Costa Rica ( 3-0) Northern Ireland, Tunisia (1-0) Costa Rica and Scotland (0-1) Costa Rica. This is a team that usually makes good use of the home advantage, stronger with the help of its supporters, since in the last 30 matches they register 3 wins, 2 draws and 10 losses in away matches, with 9 goals scored and 27 conceded; against 6 wins, 7 draws and 2 losses at their stadium, with 19 goals scored and 8 conceded. In the last 6 away league matches Costa Rica has a record of 1 win and 5 losses.
In this competition, he has lost the last 5 games away. Defensive consistency has not been their best feature, as they have conceded goals in 5 of the last 7 matches for this competition. In 15 games, he suffered the first goal 11 times and never got the comeback.
Costa Rica enters this unmotivated match, after a 3-0 defeat in a friendly against Japan. So, the foreign formation seems to be going through a rather difficult moment, since it has seven consecutive matches without winning. The visiting team usually acts in a 5-3-2, favoring a slower and organized game. For this, you can count on the completion capacity of David Ramírez. Of note that the Costa Rican selection presents some actors with individual quality.
