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Honduras national football team
World Cup Qualifying - North Central America | Third Round
Jan 31, 2022 at 12.05am UK
Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano
El Salvador national football team

Honduras
0 - 2
El Salvador

FT(HT: 0-1)
Bonilla (35'), Ceren (90+2')
Landaverde (24'), Tamacas (82')

Preview: Honduras vs. El Salvador - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Monday's World Cup Qualifying - North Central America clash between Honduras and El Salvador, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Honduras, who are rock bottom of the standings in CONCACAF qualifying, will be aiming to claim the first win of their World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign when they face El Salvador on Sunday.

The visitors, meanwhile, have collected one point from their previous five qualifiers, which has left them in seventh place.


Match preview

Honduras players celebrate scoring against Grenada on July 13, 2021© Reuters

Honduras hopes of qualifying for Qatar have all but dissipated, after a Denil Maldonado own goal and a Jonathan David strike condemned Hernan Dario Gomez's side to their sixth defeat of the qualifiers.

Los Catrachos find themselves at the bottom of the standings and are 11 points adrift of the playoff places with five games remaining.

Although qualification may be out of reach, a victory on Sunday would see Honduras pull themselves level with El Salvador, and restore some pride to a disappointing campaign.

After beginning qualifying with three draws from their first four games, Los Catrachos have fallen away, losing their last five qualifiers.

A leaky defence has been a particular concern, with Honduras currently holding the worst defensive record in the final round of qualifying after conceding 17 goals, but they can take encouragement from the clean sheet that they kept against El Salvador in the reverse fixture.

El Salvador defender Eduardo Vigil (16) kicks the ball while the United States forward Jesus Ferreira (20) defends during a CONCACAF FIFA World Cup Qualifier soccer match at Lower.com Field on January 27, 2022© Reuters

As for the visitors, their qualification hopes are also hanging by a thread as they sit eight points adrift of Panama in the playoff spot.

Despite competing well, La Selecta could not stop the United States from claiming a narrow 1-0 victory, which came courtesy of Antonee Robinson's second-half strike.

Having now suffered four defeats in their last five qualifying games, El Salvador require a minor miracle if they are to rekindle their aspirations of making it to Qatar.

A large factor in El Salvador's faltering campaign has been their failure to pick up a point on their travels, losing all four of their away qualifying fixtures.

Goalscoring has also been an issue, with La Selecta needing to improve in the final third if they are to climb up the standings having only found the net on four occasions in their nine qualifiers.

Honduras World Cup Qualifying - North Central America form:
  • D
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L

Honduras form (all competitions):
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L
  • L

El Salvador World Cup Qualifying - North Central America form:
  • W
  • L
  • L
  • D
  • L
  • L

El Salvador form (all competitions):
  • L
  • D
  • L
  • D
  • L
  • L



Team News

Honduras forward Alberth Elis (7) controls the ball in the second half against the United States during the semifinals of the 2021 CONCACAF Nations League soccer series at Empower Field at Mile High on June 4, 2021© Reuters

Honduras will line up with the familiar centre back partnership of Maldonado and Maynor Figueroa.

The width will be offered by Alberth Elis and Romell Quioto, who will be charged with creating the chances.

Los Catrachos could make a change up-front with Choco Lozano making way for Brayan Moya, who has scored twice in the qualifying campaign.

As for the visitors, Joaquin Rivas could come into the starting lineup after making a substitute appearance against the United States.

With Rivas coming into the side, Honduras could line up with a front three formed by Rivas, Jairo Henriquez and Enrico Hernandez.

After starting Thursday's encounter in a more advanced role, Alex Roldan will drop back into the midfield for Sunday's contest.

Honduras possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Quaye, Maldonado, Figueroa, D. Rodriguez; Arriaga, Mejia, E. Rodriguez; Elis, Quioto, Moya

El Salvador possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Tamacas, Vigil, Dominguez, Larin; Roldan, Landaverde, Ceren; Rivas, Henriquez, Hernandez


SM words green background

We say: Honduras 1-1 El Salvador

The reverse fixture ended in a goalless draw, and with just three points separating the sides in the standings, we think that Sunday's contest could also end level as the two teams continue to struggle to find a winning formula.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data



ID:476586:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect10067:
Written by
Ben Sully

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Honduras win with a probability of 41.7%. A win for El Salvador had a probability of 34.98% and a draw had a probability of 23.3%.

The most likely scoreline for a Honduras win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.73%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (6.8%) and 2-0 (5.72%). The likeliest El Salvador win was 1-2 (7.91%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.37%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 4.7% likelihood.


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Game History

How you voted: Honduras vs El Salvador

Honduras
46.9%
Draw
34.4%
El Salvador
18.8%
32
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