USA v Panama CONCACAF Gold Cup Final Betting Prediction ? 28th July, 2013

USA v Panama Betting Preview 
The final is set for Sunday, July 28th in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and it isn?t the final which everyone was actually expecting. The expected line up for the final would have pitted the USA and Mexico against each other, but there was an upset in the semi finals with Panama knocking out the heavily favoured and heavily supported Mexicans. That leaves the USA as firm favourites in the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup betting, and they go off as the strong option to win the title.

USA v Panama Betting Odds at online bookmaker Ladbrokes 
USA 1/2, Draw 3/1, Panama 11/2

Online bookmaker Promotion 
This match is being televised by ESPN, so there will be some coverage on the match at online betting site Ladbrokes. They have a great red card refund in place for all live matches on the BBC, ITV, ESPN, Sky and Eurosport. If there is a red card in the match, then Ladbrokes will refund losing Correct Score and Next Goalscorer bets which have been placed in-play on the match, up to £25. This applies to bets placed after kick off until the moment the red card is shown. New customers registering an account with online betting site Ladbrokes can get up to £30 in free bets. 

USA v Panama Recommended Bet: 
Have the USA looked a total class above every other nation in the tournament? No. They haven?t looked a world beating side at all, and it?s hard to say that they have outclassed everyone. They haven?t. The main difference is that Jurgen Klinsmann?s side has been very proficient in front of goal. They have really capitalised well when their opponents have made defensive errors. So they have prayed on the weakness of other sides, but they haven?t produce high quality, fluent football. There are weakness in the midfield, but the defence has stood up fairly well. The USA have only kept one clean sheet in their five matches, but haven?t conceder more than one in a match.

In the quarter finals against El Salvador, once the opposition had gone down to ten men, the USA just pushed on and made the most of the extra space. They also took full advantage of some huge gaps in the Honduran defence in their semi final match. They pounced quickly inside the first half hour to give themselves a pretty comfortable ride, both from major defnsive issues from Honduras. So while they have looked largely comfortable, they haven?t been that inspiring. They have match winners in Landon Donovan and Eddie Johnson, as the forward duo have looked sharp, and just the fact that they have scored so many along the way without looking brilliant puts them in a strong position.

Panama have been quietly impressive in their Gold Cup endeavours again, going a step further than their semi final appearance last term. They had already topped their group over Mexico in the group stage, beating the Mexicans 2-1. That same score line was reproduced in the semi final when the two sides met again in the knockout stage. They have a couple of clean sheets behind them in the tournament, so they should offer up some resistance. However, the big factor here could be the head to head record between the two nations.

The USA and Panama have met twelve times before and the record is really lopsided. The Americans have taken nine wins against one from Panama. They have squared up already this year on the road to the 2014 World Cup in the CONCAFAC zone. That ended in a 2-0 win for the USA up in Seattle, which doesn?t bode well for Panama in this final, which is held at Soldier Field in Chicago. Panama?s only victory over the USA did come in the previous edition of the Gold Cup, taking a 2-1 win in the group stage. When they met again however at the semi final stage, the USA took a 2-0 win.