USMNT vs. Trinidad & Tobago: Gold Cup 2023 Key Scenarios & Predictions | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors

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The United States Men’s National Team needs a second straight attacking outburst to retain top spot in Group A of the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup.

The Americans come into Sunday’s game against Trinidad and Tobago with a three-goal advantage over Jamaica in Group A.

A multi-goal win inside Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte is the best-case scenario for the USMNT. Jamaica take on St. Kitts and Nevis at the same time on Sunday. USMNT scored six goals in St. Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday.

Trinidad and Tobago could be a tough opponent for the Americans as they still have a chance to qualify for the knockout stage in first or second place.

The Soca Warriors have three points from their victory over St. Kitts and Nevis, but they need to play much better compared to their 4-1 loss to Jamaica.

USMNT interim manager BJ Callaghan will likely mix up parts of his squad again, and he needs to find the perfect balance in the starting XI to win the group and save some players for the knockout round.

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The Americans put themselves in the perfect position to clinch top spot in Group A on Sunday night.

Wednesday’s six-goal outburst put them three ahead of Jamaica on goal differential, which is the first tiebreaker used to determine the group winner.

The USMNT needs to rack up more goals against T&T, and that seems likely given the Soca Warriors’ result against Jamaica.

The good news for the Americans is that they blew T&T in their last two meetings, one in the 2019 Gold Cup and the other in a friendly in 2021. USMNT won those competitions by a combined total of 13-0.

Another six-goal outing in front of goal, or at least a multi-goal night, would put pressure on Jamaica to score in clusters against St. Kitts and Nevis to be competitive for top spot in Group A.

The Group A winner would likely avoid Canada and Mexico until the league game, while the Group A runner-up could face Canada in the quarter-finals and El Tri in the semi-finals.

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Only four USMNT players have started both group stage matches.

Callaghan got mixed up in Jamaica’s contest rotation to win over St. Kitts and Nevis due to declining opponent quality.

The interim boss must strike the right balance within his starting lineup of players who have thrived against a weaker opponent and those who are more battle tested to produce a multi-goal win with a clean sheet.

This should see Aaron Long and Matt Miazga return to their starting centre-back roles, and Matt Turner will likely return to goalkeeping.

Jesus Ferreira started both Group A games as a striker and Brandon Vazquez came off the bench in each game.

Callaghan could get a hot hand at Ferreira, who scored a hat-trick on Wednesday, or let Vazquez take his turn in the starting role.

With several goals in mind, Callaghan could once again turn to Cade Cowell, Djordje Mihailovic and Alejandro Zendejas to create chances against a sensitive T&T defence.

If the Americans are in control of the possession battle, as expected, it would be wise to have a few of those wingers and attacking midfielders on the field to increase the goal differential.

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United States 4, Trinidad and Tobago 0

The real question for Sunday’s game is how many goals the USMNT will earn.

Trinidad and Tobago were outclassed by Jamaica in their last Group A contest, and a higher quality gap will be on display in Charlotte.

USMNT must approach Sunday’s game with the same mindset as Wednesday’s win over St. Kitts and Nevis, in which they found the back of the net three times in the first 20 minutes .

A four-goal win should keep the Americans in first place no matter what Jamaica do against St. Kitts and Nevis.

A win, and the first-place finish that might come with it, would put the USMNT in Cincinnati on July 9 against second-placed Group D.