Canada will be looking to build on their impressive victory over Panama last time out when they welcome Costa Rica to the Commonwealth Stadium for their CONCACAF World Cup qualifier on Saturday.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last 21 home matches across all competitions – losing their last match on their own turf in March 2016 – while the visitors have failed to win any of their last four games on the road.
Match preview
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Canada boosted their hopes of qualifying for their first World Cup since 1986 after they convincingly beat Panama 4-1 on home soil last month.
Despite going a goal behind in the fifth minute through Rolando Blackburn, an own goal from Michael Murillo brought the hosts back into the game before second-half strikes from Alphonso Davies, Tajon Buchanan and Jonathan David secured all three points.
This impressive win was also without striker Cyle Larin, who is currently the top goalscorer in CONCACAF Qualifying with nine strikes to his name.
John Herdman's side have now climbed above Panama into third place – the final automatic qualification spot – and are four points behind leaders Mexico, who they will face four days after their encounter with Costa Rica.
Canada are currently unbeaten in each of their last six World Cup qualifiers and are one of only two CONCACAF nations – along with Mexico – who have not lost any of their first six matches.
The Canucks have also lost only one of their last seven meetings against Costa Rica, so they will be confident of coming away from Saturday's clash with a positive result. A victory for Herdman's men could see them leapfrog the USA into second place if they were to drop points against Mexico.
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After claiming five points from three matches against Jamaica, Honduras and El Salvador, Costa Rica suffered their first away defeat in qualifying when they were beaten 2-1 by the USA last month.
Los Ticos took a surprise lead in the very first minute thanks to a strike from Keysher Fuller, however the hosts were able to turn the game on its head when Sergino Dest's 25th-minute equaliser was followed by an own goal from Leonel Moreira midway through the second half, to condemn the visitors to their second defeat in qualifying.
Luis Fernando Suarez's side remain in fifth place with six points from as many matches, two points behind fourth-placed Panama who currently occupy the inter-confederation playoff spot and four points behind Saturday's opponents Canada in third.
Costa Rica's inconsistent run of form has seen them win only one of their last eight matches across all competitions, failing to score on five occasions.
Los Ticos have also failed to win any of their last three meetings against Canada, but if they can secure all three points this weekend, that would provide a much-needed boost for Suarez's men as they aim to qualify for their third successive World Cup.
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Team News
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Canadian trio Larin, Atiba Hutchinson and Lucas Cavallini – who all missed October's qualifiers due to injury – have returned to the first-team setup this month and will be in contention to start.
Goalkeeper Milan Borjan was also unavailable last month after contracting coronavirus, but is now fit to play between the sticks and is set to replace Maxime Crepeau in the starting lineup.
Even though Davies tends to operate at left-back for German giants Bayern Munich, the 21-year-old is expected to start on the left-wing this weekend, supporting Larin and David in attack.
As for Costa Rica, they will be without star goalkeeper Keylor Navas after the Paris Saint-Germain stopper picked up an elbow injury in their victory against Bordeaux last weekend.
Leonel Moreira is expected to start between the sticks as a result and he is likely to be protected by central defenders Francisco Calvo and Oscar Duarte.
Experienced forwards Joel Campbell and Bryan Ruiz – who have 242 international caps between them – are set to start, with support to be provided on the flanks by Fuller and Johan Venegas.
Canada possible starting lineup:
Borjan; Johnston, Vitoria, Henry, Miller; Kaye, Hutchinson, Piette; David, Larin, Davies
Costa Rica possible starting lineup:
Moreira; Blanco, Duarte, Calvo, Matarrita; Borges, Tejeda; Fuller, Ruiz, Venegas; Campbell
We say: Canada 1-0 Costa Rica
A closely-fought contest is set to be played out in Edmonton as both Canada and Costa Rica bid to boost their hopes of World Cup qualification.
Each of the last eight meetings between these two nations have seen no more than two goals scored, so we are not expecting a goalfest this weekend. Nevertheless, the hosts should have enough firepower to secure a narrow victory.
Top tip
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 Canada win with a probability of 58.38%. A draw had a probability of 26.5% and a win for Costa Rica had a probability of 15.09%.
The most likely scoreline for a Canada win was 1-0 with a probability of 18.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (13.65%) and 2-1 (8.15%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 0-0 (12.72%), while for a Costa Rica win it was 0-1 (7.6%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 18.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Canada in this match.
