USA vs Jamaica Odds, Predictions, Picks | CONCACAF Nations League Preview

USA vs Jamaica Odds

The United States Men's National Team will play their first competitive match of 2024 when they face Jamaica in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals on Thursday evening in North Texas.

The USA is the only nation to win the competition since it was launched, having earned its second CNL crown after defeating Canada in the 2022-2023 final last June.

Meanwhile, Jamaica have reached the semifinal stage for the first time after defeating Canada on away goals following a 4-4 aggregate goals draw in the sides' two-leg quarterfinal last November.

These sides last met in a 1-1 draw in both teams' group opener at the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

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USA Sorting Out Question Up Top

For much of Berhalter's managerial tenure, one of the main stories has been a lack of in-form options at striker. But currently, he has the opposite, much more desirable problem of a difficult choice to decide who is the best in-form No. 9 to insert at the top of his preferred 4-3-3.

Josh Sargent has scored 13 league goals in 18 matches to help Norwich City's bid to earn a return to the Premier League. Haji Wright also has 13 goals in the League Championship for Coventry City, not to mention the dramatic late FA Cup quarterfinal winner he curled home at Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend. And Ricardo Pepi has been ruthlessly efficient at PSV Eindhoven, scoring seven times in the league while contributing mainly as a substitute.

That trio are all finding the net more often than Monoaco's Falorin Balogun, who has five Ligue 1 tallies in much more extended playing time. But Balogun had been Berhalter's preferred choice to start in recent camps.

Elsewhere in the squad, Christian Pulisic is in arguably the best form of his career, averaging 0.69 goal involvements per 90 minutes as one of A.C. Milan's most consistent players. Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams has recovered from hamstring surgery in time to make the roster — and has said he could be capable of as much as 45 minutes if called 0n. And left back Antonee Robinson is having a superb season at Fulham, leading the club with six league assists while playing the most Premier League minutes of any field player in the squad.

The biggest questions at this time are probably in central defense. Crystal Palace's Chris Richards has spent most of the season playing in a defensive midfield role for his club, although new manager Oliver Glasner's preferred 3-4-3 has allowed him to return to a more comfortable position. Tim Ream hasn't played for Fulham since Feb. 17, Miles Robinson has been getting used to life at a new club at FC Cincinnati and Genk's Mark McKenzie has featured sparingly for Berhalter in the last three years.

Jamaica Missing Key Names

The Reggae Boyz's project of drafting eligible English-born players into the program has resulted in one of the more intriguing rosters in CONCACAF. But for this particular international window, that squad won't feature Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey.

Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has dropped Bailey after Bailey violated curfew in his most-recent previous call-up, Hallgrimsson explained last Thursday. And while Bailey perhaps hasn't performed as well as an international as he has as a club player, it's still a major loss. With eight goals and eight assists in the world's top league, Bailey is in a small circle of players — along with the USA's Pulisic — who could claim to be CONCACAF's best player.

Hallgrimsson will still have capable attackers to call upon in West Ham's Michail Antonio, Fulham's Bobby De Cordova-Reid and former Everton and Leicester City man Demarai Gray. But he'll also be managing a couple of key absences at the other end of the pitch, with EPL defenders Ethan Pinnock (Brentford) and Amari'i Bell (Luton Town) both out injured.

USA vs Jamaica Prediction

The Reggae Boyz have been one of Berhalter's more difficult opponents during his tenure, beating the Americans in a 2019 friendly and drawing the last two games.

Even so, the combination of a strong American roster and some key Reggae Boyz absences make this a tough spot for the underdogs.

Backing them to steal a result here may not be the way forward. But even while losing, Jamaica have scored consistently in their games against the Americans, registering one goal exactly in five of the seven matches between the Reggae Boyz and Berhalter's American squad.

Add the questions about the USA center backs and that's probably the trend to back at +170 odds and a 37% probability.

If you'd rather support the Americans in some form, there's typically value on Christian Pulisic to score any time (+210 via FanDuel) when he crosses over from club play to international play. Until one of their promising No. 9s truly grabs hold of the opportunity, Pulisic remains the most likely American to score in any USMNT game he's in. And he's in exceptional form of late.

Pick: Jamaica to score 1 goal exact (+170 via ESPNBet)