STAR PREVIEW: Jamaica v Mexico

[dropcap]J[/dropcap]amaica have taken their chances well so far to get to the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup but the Reggae Boyz luck may run out at the final hurdle against Mexico (game kicks off early hours of Monday morning and is live on BT SPORT).

At face value their defeat of defending champions USA in the semi-finals looked good but as we saw again last night the wheels appear to have well and truly come off the USA bandwagon and they are looking distinctly average.

For me, this game is all about one man. Jamaican’s stand-in goalkeeper Ryan Thompson who looked so nervous every time USA attacked (and that didn’t happen much). Thompson was brought in off the bench during their earlier win against El Salvador to replace first keeper Dwayne Miller who was taken to hospital with a head injury.

Thompson said after their win against USA: “I came under tremendous pressure. I was forced into making saves. I made a couple of errors here and there, but that’s all a part of being a goalkeeper…. It’s not about winning beautiful. Sometimes, you just have to go out there and make sure you win the game by any means necessary.”

That’s probably not the spin I would have put on it. Most amusing part of that quote was about him being forced into making saves. A goalkeeper who might have to make saves….. who would ever have thought it ???

The reality is that Thompson is something of a huge liability and Mexico are more than likely to put him under more pressure than the USA did.

Jamaica v Mexico
CONCACAF Gold Cup 2015 Final
12:30am Monday BT SPORT

HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
(Maximum 10 matches)
Jun 2013 World Cup Jamaica 0-1 Mexico
Feb 2013 World Cup Mexico 0-0 Jamaica
Oct 2008 World Cup Jamaica 1-0 Mexico
Sep 2008 World Cup Mexico 3-0 Jamaica
Jul 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup Mexico 1-0 Jamaica
Jul 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup Mexico 5-0 Jamaica
Sep 2001 World Cup Jamaica 1-2 Mexico
Mar 2001 World Cup Mexico 4-0 Jamaica
Feb 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup Jamaica 0-1 Mexico
Jul 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup Mexico 6-1 Jamaica

I got stuck with an infuriating 1-1 last night but think ‘over 2.5’ goals at around 7/4 with Star Sports looks fair value. Five times from the last 10 meetings over 2.5 goals has obliged, as you can see from the above stats, and I don’t mind taking 7/4 about a spin…… especially with Thompson in goal.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-50 points)

BACK OVER 2.5 GOALS for 10 points at around 7/4 with Star Sports

RETURN SINCE START OF WORLD CUP: LOSS 40.49 POINTS

What’s your view? CALL STAR SPORTS 08000 521 321