In search of their first-ever victory at the CONCACAF Nations League, Grenada return to Kirani James Athletic Stadium when they face the Group B leaders Jamaica on Thursday.
The Spice Boys were beaten handily by Honduras 4-0 on matchday two, dropping them down to the bottom of that group, while the Reggae Boyz overcame an early 2-0 deficit, claiming a 2-2 draw at home to Haiti.
Match preview
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Grenada have had a month to process what went wrong in their previous Nations League fixture in which they were on their heels and thoroughly dominated by the Hondurans, failing to register a single shot on target, with only 27% possession, while La H strung together more than two times as many passes as they did (652-238).
That was the fourth time in six away matches in this competition that this team had failed to find the back of the net, and they return home where they have netted in every one of their Nations League encounters to date.
In six previous Nations League home outings, Grenada have only suffered one defeat (7-1 versus the USA), while the Spice Boys were as close as ever to winning a League A contest on matchday one this season, going ahead in the 85th-minute against Suriname, only to concede the equaliser two minutes later.
Since October 2022, this team have only suffered one home defeat versus a Caribbean side, losing 2-1 in a friendly against Saint Lucia in March 2023.
Terry Connor remains without a victory since taking charge of this side, though their defeat versus Honduras was the first time under the former Ipswich Town assistant, that the Spice Boys had been defeated after 90 minutes.
If there is a positive that this group can take away from what has been a rough 2023, going winless in all eight of their encounters this year, it would be their improved defensive play, with Grenada conceding multiple goals in only one of their three fixtures under Connor, though they have given up 10 in three League A home fixtures.
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In the opening quarter of an hour on matchday two, Jamaica looked anything but group favourites as some uncharacteristic defensive miscues gave Haiti a 2-0 advantage before the match was 15 minutes old.
As they have shown us throughout 2023, though, the Reggae Boyz regrouped at the half and kept chipping away, cutting the deficit in half thanks to an own-goal a few minutes after the interval before levelling the match from the penalty spot, just a few minutes from the end as they remained unbeaten at home in this competition.
Outside of Jamaica, this group have not fared quite as well, without a road victory since entering League A in 2022-23, despite being positioned to win their two away encounters that season versus Suriname (1-1) and Mexico (2-2).
That being said, the Jamaicans have never lost a Nations League fixture, while never being behind in any encounter at this tournament before being stunned early by the Haitians on matchday two.
Heimir Hallgrimsson had to wait almost a full year before collecting his first victory as Reggae Boyz manager, with the Jamaicans finally emerging victorious in his ninth encounter at the helm (4-1 versus Trinidad and Tobago), but since the start of the Gold Cup, the 56-year-old has rarely seen his side experience defeat, losing just one of their last seven matches (3-0 to Mexico in the 2023 Gold Cup quarter-finals).
Although the Icelandic coach has seen this group fail to claim victory on four occasions when scoring first, Jamaica have only gone on to lose one of those encounters (2-1 versus Jordan), while the Reggae Boyz have suffered just one defeat against Grenada in 11 previous meetings (2-1 in June 2008).
Team News
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Connor made two changes to the Grenada opening lineup from matchday one to two in the Nations League, inserting Mackell Ganness and Steffon Abraham into the starting 11 in place of Jacob Bedeau and captain Saydrel Lewis.
Their 21-man squad in this Nations League window will feature numerous players from Queens Park Rangers, though not the one you may think of, as Benjamin Ettienne, Trevon Williams and Deon Phillip all feature for the Rangers' team based in Grenada, while Kayden Harrack applies his trade with the more familiar QPR in the Championship, though he currently features for their Under-21 squad.
Lewis is the only Grenada player to find the back of the net at the Nations League this year, scoring the seventh of his career with the Spice Boys on matchday one, putting him in a three-way tie with Jake Rennie and Keith Fletcher for sixth all-time, while Jason Belfon has conceded five goals in two League A games this year.
Cory Burke and Michail Antonio were selected to the Jamaican side for this encounter, having each missed the previous window through injury, while Renaldo Cephas was chosen once again and will be after his first senior cap.
Making his first start in the new Nations League campaign on matchday two, captain Andre Blake conceded a pair of early goals against Haiti before a Ricardo Ade own-goal minutes into the second half put the Reggae Boyz back in that game with the equaliser coming seven minutes from the end when Bobby Decordova-Reid netted from the penalty spot.
Leon Bailey, Damion Lowe and Javain Brown are the only three Jamaican players who have seen the field in all six of their League A encounters in this competition, with Shamar Nicholson featuring on five occasions.
Grenada possible starting lineup:
Belfon; Ettienne, Harrack, Bedeau, Gannes, Gabriel; Abraham, Williams, Johnson, Berkeley-Agyepong; Lewis
Jamaica possible starting lineup:
Waite; T. Gray, Lowe, Pinnock, Bell; Bailey, Palmer, Latibeaudiere, D. Gray; Decordova-Reid, Antonio
We say: Grenada 0-5 Jamaica
The Jamaican attack bolstered by Antonio should prove to be a massive challenge for Grenada, who struggled to contain an inexperienced Honduran strike force, and it is difficult to envision the Spice Boys shutting down a Reggae Boyz squad that on paper possess a lot more quality than most CONCACAF sides.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
