El Salvador will host Mexico on Wednesday in World Cup 2022 qualifying and the home side head into the encounter in sixth position in the table after collecting five points from their first five games.
Mexico are still unbeaten in qualifying and as a result of their fine form they enter the matchday top with 11 points to their name.
Match preview
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El Salvador are looking to make a World Cup finals appearance for the first time since 1982, and they enter the matchday two points off the playoff place.
Their opening two games of the current qualifying round resulted in goalless draws against USA and Honduras before La Selecta then lost 3-0 away to Canada.
In the current international period, El Salvador collected three points against Panama thanks to a goal from Enrico Hernandez to clinch a 1-0 victory.
Their last outing resulted in a narrow 2-1 defeat to Costa Rica, courtesy of goals from Bryan Ruiz and Celso Borges, despite Jairo Henriquez giving El Salvador the lead in the first half.
If Hugo Perez's side are to stand a chance of qualification then they need to improve on the two goals that they have scored in their first five games of the current qualifying round.
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Mexico have been in imperious form in qualification and they are on course to reach their eighth consecutive World Cup.
El Tri opened their qualifying campaign with victories over Jamaica and Costa Rica before they earned a point away to Panama.
The current international period began with a fixture against Canada, which Mexico took the lead in courtesy of goal from Jorge Sanchez, but El Tri had to settle for a point when Jonathan Osorio equalised for Canada.
In their last outing, Mexico swept aside Honduras with Sebastian Cordova, Rogelio Funes Mori and Hirving Lozano all scoring to give Gerardo Martino's side a 3-0 victory.
Mexico will be confident about continuing their unbeaten run due to the fact they have won all of their last eight meetings with Honduras.
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Team News
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Narciso Orellana will be absent for El Salvador due to suspension after being sent off against Costa Rica.
After coming on at half time in the previous fixture, Denis Pineda could come into the starting lineup for the Mexico clash.
Funes Mori came on as a substitute for Mexico to score against Honduras last time out, but the Monterrey forward will likely have to settle for a place on the bench once again.
Nestor Araujo looks set to return to the starting lineup to partner Cesar Montes in the centre of defence.
Martino may also keep Cordova in midfield after the Club America player came into the lineup for the Honduras encounter and impressed by grabbing a goal.
El Salvador possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Roldan, Dominguez, Vigil, Tamacas; Monterrosa, Pineda, Ceren, Henriquez; Rivas, Hernandez
Mexico possible starting lineup:
Ochoa; Sanchez, Montes, Araujo, Gallardo; Herrera, Alvarez, Cordova; Corona, Lozano, Jimenez
We say: El Salvador 0-3 Mexico
Mexico will look to remain undefeated in qualifying and they will be full of confidence after winning comfortably against Honduras.
We think they could achieve another comfortable victory against El Salvador, especially given their impressive head-to-head record.
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 Mexico win with a probability of 51.1%. A draw had a probability of 25.9% and a win for El Salvador had a probability of 23.02%.
The most likely scoreline for a Mexico win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.14%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.99%) and 1-2 (9.27%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.19%), while for a El Salvador win it was 1-0 (8.02%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 10% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Mexico would win this match.
