For the first time in over three years, Panama will visit Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores to battle Guatemala on Sunday in what will be the second match for each team at the CONCACAF Nations League.
Both sides were victorious in their debut encounters, with Los Chapines defeating El Salvador 2-0, while the Panamanians had no trouble with Martinique, claiming a 3-0 triumph.
Match preview
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Make it six in a row for Guatemala at home in this competition as the Central American side disposed of La Selecta to maintain their 100% record on home soil at the Nations League.
From the opening whistle on Thursday, Guatemala set the tone, creating numerous scoring opportunities before going ahead in the 15th minute, weathering a storm late in the first half, and in the end, holding firm for a fourth successive triumph at this tournament.
That was their first encounter in League A with Luis Fernando Tena's men now unbeaten in three successive matches versus Central American opponents, while they have not conceded once in any of those fixtures.
Guatemala have not allowed a single goal on home soil in this competition, scoring multiple times in all six of their Nations League matches played at Estadio Nacional Mateo Flores.
La Bicolor have only conceded in three of their 11 matches played at this tournament, allowing multiple goals in a single game only once (2-0 loss to French Guiana in June 2022).
They have gone on to win their last three matches when scoring the opening goal and have not lost when leading at half-time since September 2022, when Honduras scored twice in the final 20 minutes to defeat them 2-1.
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Panama began the new Nations League campaign on the right foot, going in front after nine minutes and cruising to a third successive home victory in this competition.
Playing away from home at this tournament, Los Canaleros have not been quite as impressive with just one victory in their last three attempts, though they did not concede in their previous two group fixtures on the road at the 2022-23 Nations League group stage.
Since their last World Cup qualification campaign ended in March 2022, Thomas Christiansen's side have only collected three clean sheets away from home in all competitions, though they won their previous road fixture 2-1 versus Bolivia.
They have lost just one of their last 14 competitive matches when finding the back of the net, losing 2-1 versus Qatar in a November 2022 friendly.
In the five defeats that Panama have suffered historically at this tournament, four of those losses have occurred when conceding in the opening half, while they have only claimed victory once in that scenario.
Los Canaleros have had their way with Guatemala over the past 16 years, winning nine successive matches against them, a streak which dates back to September 2006.
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Team News
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There were five newcomers in the Guatemalan starting 11 on Thursday who did not begin their friendly against Honduras, as Nicholas Hagen, Nicolas Samayoa, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Carlos Mejia and Rubio Rubin replaced Fredy Perez, Gerardo Gordillo, Oscar Santis, Esteban Garcia and Darwin Lom.
Mejia put his side ahead after 15 minutes in their opening match and despite Rubin missing a penalty 15 minutes later, Pedro Altan put the game to bed, scoring in the 78th minute with his first international goal.
Esteban Garcia has appeared in three of the last four matches played with Los Chapines, while Jorge Aparicio is eight appearances away from 50 with the national team as he came on for Oscar Castellanos in the second half against El Salvador.
Christiansen put out a completely different Panamanian starting 11 against Martinique than the one that began their friendly versus Bolivia, with Kahiser Lenis being the only one to feature in both encounters, coming on for Eduardo Guerrero in their opening Nations League encounter on Thursday.
Jose Fajardo has a goal in the last two Nations League group outings for Los Canaleros, with the DC United striker needing only nine minutes to find the back of the net in their opener, with Cecilio Waterman and Ismael Diaz also scoring on that occasion, while Luis Mejia and Cesar Samudio each played a half between the sticks, combining for a clean sheet.
Earlier this week Adalberto Carrasquilla picked up his first assist with the national team since their Gold Cup semi-final triumph over the USA in July, when he set up Ivan Anderson for his first international goal.
Guatemala possible starting lineup:
Hagen; Morales, Pinto, Gordillo, Ardon; Castellanos, Saravia; Mendez-Laing, Lom, C. Mejia; Rubin
Panama possible starting lineup:
L. Mejia; Escobar, Cordoba, Andrade; Blackman, Carrasquilla, Godoy, Davis; Lenis; Fajardo, Diaz
We say: Guatemala 0-1 Panama
These two teams may be the most well-organised defensive units in the region and perhaps the most physically intimidating to face, but we believe the attacking depth of Panama will give them a slight edge on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
