Preview: Mexico vs. Panama - prediction, team news, lineups

Mexico continue their preparations for the Gold Cup with a friendly international against Panama on Wednesday night.

While El Tri have failed to win any of their last three games over 90 minutes, Panama are on a seven-game unbeaten streak having faced weaker opposition.

Match preview

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Despite having reached the final of the CONCACAF Nations League, everyone associated with Mexico came away from the tournament feeling disappointed after their 3-2 defeat to the United States.

Gerardo Martino witnessed his team twice give up a lead before eventually losing in extra time, costing them the chance to be crowned the inaugural champions of the competition.

Martino now has the job of rousing his players ahead of the defence of their Gold Cup crown next month, and he will expect a positive response in Nashville.

While El Tri have performed below par throughout 2021, there is a desire to get back on track against opponents who they defeated 3-0 as recently as November 2019.

Mexico were held to a goalless draw by Honduras in their last friendly international, a scoreline also posted by Panama in their World Cup qualifier versus Curacao.

Nevertheless, this group of players appear to be progressing under the guidance of former Leeds United boss Thomas Christiansen, who was appointed in the role last year.

Although they have only squared off against some of the minnows of world football, Panama have five wins and two draws from their seven outings in 2021.

The 13-0 demolition of Anguilla on June 6 naturally caught the eye, but momentum and his squad playing with confidence will matter more to Christiansen.

With Honduras and Qatar in their Gold Cup group, Los Canaleros will have to perform to their best to reach the quarter-finals, but a meeting with Mexico is the ideal fixture to test themselves ahead of next month's competition.

Team News

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Having made changes for the previous game against Honduras, Martino could potentially revert back to the team which started the Nations League final.

However, Martino has selected as many as 44 players in his pre-Gold Cup squad, throwing up the possibility of a mix-and-match team being selected on Wednesday.

The likes of Diego Lainez, Luis Romo and Henry Martin could be given opportunities after featuring as substitutes versus the USA.

Keen to see where his side are at ahead of the Gold Cup, Christiansen may select his first-choice Panama XI for this contest.

Gabriel Torres, with 22 international goals to his name, is an option in attack if Christiansen opts to replace Jose Fajardo.

Mexico possible starting lineup:
Ochoa; Araujo, Alvarez, Moreno; L.Rodriguez, Herrera, C.Rodriguez, Gallardo; Antuna, Martin, Lainez

Panama possible starting lineup:
Mejia; Palacios, Cummings, Andrade, Davis; Carrasquilla, Godoy; Quintero, Barcenas, Rodriguez; Fajardo

We say: Mexico 3-0 Panama

While both managers will take several things into consideration before naming their starting lineups, the end result should still be the same.

Mexico possess far more quality than their opponents, and we expect a comfortable evening for El Tri.