El Salvador and Jamaica will do battle at the Estadio Cuscatlan on Saturday as they aim to climb the CONCACAF World Cup qualification standings.
Both nations currently have five points from their opening six matches, but they are only three points behind the top four.
Match preview
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El Salvador may seem to be struggling in seventh place, but they are only three points behind Panama in fourth, who currently occupy the inter-confederation playoff spot.
Their first victory in qualifying, a slender 1-0 win against Panama last month, was followed by defeats against Costa Rica and Mexico, games in which they were reduced to 10 men on both occasions.
Discipline will need to improve for Hugo Perez's side if they are to give themselves the best chance of securing all three points. Nevertheless, with eight qualifiers left to play, there is still plenty of time for La Selecta to turn their fortunes around.
El Salvador – who last competed at the World Cup back in 1982 – head into Saturday's clash after winning only one of their last 11 meetings against Jamaica, a 2-0 win in the CONCACAF Nations League in March 2019.
That victory is, however, part of a three-game unbeaten run against the Reggae Boyz and they will be hoping to extend this record with another positive result on home soil.
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Jamaica were able to claim their first victory in qualifying when they beat Honduras 2-0 away from home last month.
Goals either side of half time from Rangers forward Kemar Roofe and LA Galaxy midfielder Oniel Fisher helped the Reggae Boyz end a poor run of eight games across all competitions without a win.
Theodore Whitmore, who was appointed head coach for the fourth time in 2016, will be keen to see his side build on the two goals scored last time out, after failing to find the net in five of their previous seven matches across all competitions.
Jamaica's only appearance at a World Cup was back in 1998, and although they are one of the underdogs to qualify for next year's tournament in Qatar, they remain in contention to finish within the top four.
Victory on Saturday could be crucial, however, as they have successive fixtures against the USA, Mexico and Panama to come.
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Team News
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El Salvador centre-back Mario Jacobo will serve a one-match suspension after receiving a red card against Mexico, but midfielder Narciso Orellana has returned from his one-game ban and will be in contention to start this weekend.
Perez may revert to a 4-3-3 formation which they used in the victory against Panama, with midfielders Darwin Ceren and Marvin Monterroza providing support for attacking trio Jairo Henriquez, Joaquin Rivas and Denis Pineda.
As for Jamaica, Whitemore has included 10 players who currently play for clubs in the English football pyramid in his 24-man squad.
West Ham United talisman Michail Antonio has chosen to represent the Reggae Boyz this month, after pulling out of the squad in October, and he could lead the line alongside Roofe and Fulham's Bobby Reid.
Reading's Liam Moore is set to play at centre-back, while Derby County's Ravel Morrison and Swindon Town's Anthony Grant will be in contention to start in midfield.
El Salvador possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Tamacas, Dominguez, Vigil, Roldan; Ceren, Orellana, Monterrosa; Henriquez; Rivas, Pineda
Jamaica possible starting lineup:
Blake; Fisher, Moore, Mariappa, Lawrence; Grant, Watson, Morrison; Roofe, Antonio, Reid
We say: El Salvador 1-1 Jamaica
A win for either El Salvador or Jamaica this weekend would move them into a much stronger position as they aim to finish in the top four.
However, with little to separate these two nations, a score draw could be on the cards at the Estadio Cuscatlan.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 El Salvador win with a probability of 42.14%. A win for Jamaica had a probability of 32.34% and a draw had a probability of 25.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a El Salvador win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.63%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.89%) and 2-0 (7.08%). The likeliest Jamaica win was 0-1 (8.23%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.09%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.1% likelihood.
