Lowly team El Salvador (0-2-2, 2 points) will square off with mighty Group A leaders Mexico (4-0-0, 12 points) in the fifth matchday of the fourth round of competitions in the 2018 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF qualifying tournament. The match will take place at the Estadio Cuscatlán in El Salvador's capital city of San Salvador this Friday, Sep. 2.
Mexico routed El Salvador, 3-0, in their first meeting at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City in November of last year and are expected to replicate their performance this time in the latter's home field.
El Salvador suffered their fourth straight winless performance in the fourth round of qualifiers with a 0-2 defeat to Honduras at the Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano in San Pedro Sula on Mar. 29, via Soccerway.
Head coach Ramón Maradiaga's team was no match to the much stronger Los Catrachos as they failed to net a single goal in the whole 90 minutes plus of playing time.
The team still has a chance to qualify in the next round if they can pull off a shocker against the Mexicans in this match.
Meanwhile, El Tri thrashed Canada, 2-0, in the previous matchday also at their home stadium in Mexico City last Mar. 29 to stay undefeated in the four-team Group A standings, Goal reported.
PSV Eindhoven winger Andres Guardado netted the opening goal of the contest at the 17th minute to give the early lead to head coach Juan Carlos Osorio's side. FC Porto forward Jesus Corona then doubled the lead in the first half injury time before both teams went scoreless in the second half of the game.
It was another shutout win for the Mexicans as the team has never conceded a single goal in the whole fourth round so far.
With four straight wins, Mexico had already advanced in the fifth round of the qualifiers called the Hex and they are not expected to let up in these last two games of the fourth round.
The top three teams after the Hex will directly qualify to the 2018 World Cup in Russia while the fourth place squad will enter the inter-confederation playoffs where two more World Cup spots will be up for grabs.
The predicted result is another 3-0 romp for Mexico.
El Salvador starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Carrillo; Mendoza, Garcia, Larin, Romero; Flores, Alas, Ceren, Menjivar; Bonilla, Herrera
Mexico starting lineup (5-4-1 formation): Ochoa; Moreno, Aguilar, Marquez, Nilo, Layun; Aquino, Guardado, Herrera, Lozano; Jimenez