Panama Look to Take Care of Nicaragua in Second Group Match

Who: Panama v. Nicaragua

When: Wednesday July 12th, 2017 6:30PM EST

Where: Raymond James Stadium—Tampa, Florida

As far as Group B in this year’s CONCACAF Gold Cup is concerned, things could not possibly be any more confusing. As it stands, the group leaders are minnows Martinique, while teams that were favored to advance out of the group—USA and Panama—will be fighting for their respective lives in their second group matches.

Panama will more than likely be the side with more momentum heading into the second group match, mostly thanks to their having drawn against the United States. In case you were not aware, the United States are favored to win this year’s Gold Cup. As far as how Panama ended up drawing with the tournament favorites, there was nothing special about what they did. A solid all-around team performance frustrated the Americans and ended up being the difference between 0 and 1 point.

Nicaragua, on the other hand, will have very little, if any, momentum. Nicaragua lost to tiny Martinique, a team that was not expected to walk away with even a point from this year’s competition. The sad part about Nicaragua’s showing is that they looked to be completely and totally outmatched by a team that they should have been able to handle easily. Panama will be an infinitely tougher opponent, and Nicaragua will have to bounce back in a hurry.

Match Overview and Analysis

Panama (-380) are heavy favorites heading into their match with Nicaragua (+1200), and for good reason too. The simple fact of the matter is that this Panamanian side are hugely superior to the team from Nicaragua, and after their embarrassing first round loss to Martinique, morale will be as low as ever. Who will Panama rely on? The most likely answer to that is Miguel Camargo, who plays for New York City FC of Major League Soccer. He is not only having a great season in MLS, he just scored the equalizing goal for his side in their opening group match. Apart from him, Panama have many other weapons that they can rely on.

As for what Nicaragua has going for them, the answer to that is not very much. The one lone bright spot for Nicaragua is the fact that Juan Barrera will be back and ready to play. Barrera, who is probably Nicaragua’s most potent attacking option, was suspended for the first match of the group stages. For Nicaragua, the main objective will be to keep goals out of the net. Unfortunately for them, that will not be enough. In addition to keeping Panama out of their own net, Nicaragua will have to score at least one goal of their own. To make what can be a long story short, Nicaragua is facing a large uphill battle. They do have a chance, but not a very good one at all.

Betting Prediction

As far as who you should wager on, I think the best bet to make is a moneyline bet on Panama (-380). While this is not the best bet as far as value is concerned, it is a good wager to make because I do not see any scenario where Panama do not win this match. Panama are not only the better side in this matchup, they are also well aware of the fact that they absolutely need 3 points if they want any hope of advancing out of the group. There isn’t a lot of value, but a bet on the Panama moneyline is as close to a sure thing as you can get.

Another wager I really like is the 2.5 over/under (-105/-130) featured by Bovada. I think the over(-105) is the wager you have to go with. The way I see it, both sides need to earn 3 points in order to have any hope of advancing. As such, they will both be out looking to attack straight from the opening kick. I think this will inevitably lead to goals being scored.

Another off the beaten path offered by Bovada is a special proposition with regard to whether Panama will score in both the first and second halves. If you wager on Panama scoring in both halves, the odds are +110. Being that I anticipate that this will be a match that features a lot of scoring, I see no reason why Panama would not score in both halves.

Finally, there is an alternate spread that sees Panama -1 goal favorites (-235). Though this is a bit riskier than the moneyline wager, I think there is a high likelihood that it will happen. Once again, this, like most of the other bets, is dependent upon both Panama scoring and the match itself being somewhat high scoring. This has been said many times up to this point, but the simple fact of the matter is that Panama are the better team and I think that this will be made apparent right away.