Kazeka1886

Both teams will start struggling pitchers. Royals will go with Avila, who is 1-2 with a 4.02 ERA, while the Astros will go with Imai, who is 3-3 with a 5.24 ERA. Both will need depth from their bullpens, and both bullpens are really struggling as Astros rank as the 7th-worst bullpen with a 4.82 ERA, while the Royals rank as the 4th-worst with a 4.92 ERA, so got to expect plenty of runs here and take the over.

USA is 17th on the FIFA rankings list while Paraguay is 41st, so at home in LA in front of their loud home fans, got to give the edge to USA and back them to win this one. However, USA hasn't been that good defensively, having conceded in 13 of their last 14 games, while Paraguay scored in 7 of their last 8 games. One of those was their H2H match, which USA won 2-1 in a friendly in Chester last year, so got to expect something similar here, with both sides scoring and USA winning it in the end.

USA is world number 17 on the FIFA rankings list, while Paraguay is ranked 41st. USA are at home in Los Angeles in front of a packed home crowd, which should give them the edge. They played head-to-head just last year, and USA won 2-1 in a friendly that was very competitive, so got to expect a tight game here as well, but USA should have enough of an edge in front of their fans to edge it out and take the massive 3 points in the end.

Balogun had a very good season for Monaco, scoring 19 goals in all competitions. He scored 4 goals in his last 10 friendly games for the USA, and Paraguay will surely look to close down Pulisic as much as possible. That should leave more room for Balogun and quite possibly see him open the scoring in this one.

Cubas earned 12 yellow cards last season playing for Vancouver Whitecaps in MLS before earning 5 more cards in the first 11 games this season. He also received cards in 2 of 3 CONCACAF Champions League matches this season and 4 more cards in 13 World Cup qualifying games, so there's good value backing him to get booked in this one.

These two teams faced off head-to-head last year in a friendly, which wasn't very friendly but was very competitive and quite tense, seeing 6 yellow cards and 1 red card. This will be a tense game for the hosts to open up at home, and Paraguay plays that gritty style with many fouls, which should lead to more nervous moments and result in an over on total bookings.

Rams last won the Super Bowl in 2021 when they hosted at SoFi Stadium, and this year's Super Bowl is again being played at SoFi in LA. Rams have a superb team led by last year's MVP QB Stafford, who led them to the title in 2021. They have an amazing offense with a fantastic receiving core in the likes of excellent Nacua and Adams, alongside a whole stable of young and improving tight ends and a rock-solid run game with Williams. On the other side, their defense just got vastly improved by the addition of last season's Defensive Player of the Year, Garrett, who broke the NFL single-season sack record with 23 sacks. They also traded for two Chiefs cornerbacks, McDuffie and Watson, to fill the need in the secondary, while they also have one of the most brilliant coaching minds in McVay. After going close last year, where they lost a close one to the eventual winners in the NFC Championship game, simply got to like the Rams to go all the way this season and win another title at home in LA.