Turkey vs USA Prediction: A long-awaited Gul for the Crescent-Stars

Two defeats from their first two games have seen Turkey already confirmed as losers of Group D, and the Crescent-Stars still have another fixture remaining against winners USA (Thursday 7pm local, Friday 3am BST, ITV).

Below are my Turkey vs USA predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of the meeting at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

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Team News

Turkey head coach Vincenzo Montella is likely to make several changes to his starting XI with qualification already out of sight.

Caglar Soyuncu, Ozan Kabak and Deniz Gul are among those who could make their first starts of the tournament.

World Cup Odds

Christian Pulisic missed the USA's 2-0 victory over Australia with a calf injury and boss Mauricio Pochettino is unlikely to risk him here with the Stars and Stripes already qualified as group winners.

Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson are all one yellow card away from a one-game suspension and might be rested against Turkey as a result.

Sebastien Berhalter, Giovanni Reyna and Haji Wright are three players who could earn promotions to the starting XI.

Turkey vs USA Odds

Turkey are 11/4 underdogs, implying a 26.7% probability of success, with favourites USA 10/11, or a 52.4% chance, and the draw offered at 11/4.

Double Delight & Hat-trick Heaven: Get DOUBLE or TREBLE the odds if your winning First Goalscorer bet scores a second and third.

Match Result - Turkey @ 11/4

This may seem like a strange selection, with the USA playing some great stuff on home soil and Turkey flopping against both Australia and Paraguay, failing to score in defeats to both (0-2, 0-1).

However, the Stars and Stripes have already qualified for the knockout phase as group winners, and with top spot wrapped up, they can afford to make wholesale changes to their starting XI, and I think Pochettino will rotate to offer his star men some rest and to give some of his fringe players the chance to impress.

Turkey, meanwhile, can play with a degree of freedom now. Of course, they won't want to lose all three games, so there is pressure on them in that regard, but qualification is no longer on the line, so perhaps the tension will ease now, somewhat at least.

Considering the USA are likely to field a second-string XI and aren't in any need of a point, let alone all three, I think there's value in backing Turkey to win at 11/4, especially with the Crescent-Stars, in my opinion, boasting a more talented squad.

The two teams met in June last year, with Montella's men winning that East Hartford friendly 2-1.

Anytime Goalscorer - Deniz Gul (TUR) @ 11/4

FC Porto striker Deniz Gul has been restricted to two substitute appearances at his first-ever World Cup, coming on in the 85th minute against Australia and in the 60th minute against Paraguay.

The 21-year-old failed to have any impact in his brief spell on the pitch against the Socceroos, but against La Albirroja, he saw a header saved in the 62nd minute and put a left-footed effort narrowly wide in the 89th minute.

I'm expecting Gul to start against the USA, and when he led the line from the beginning in a friendly against North Macedonia on 1 June, he scored his second international goal in a 4-0 win.

The 6ft 4in forward, who was born and raised in Stockholm and played at youth level for Sweden before opting to represent Turkey, his dad's country, scored seven times in 44 appearances for Porto last season, including five goals in 29 Liga Portugal outings, just 12 of which were starts.

He ended the campaign with three goals in his last four games before linking up with his national team and firing one past North Macedonia.

With the USA set to change things around at the back, I like the look of Gul in the anytime goalscorer market at 11/4.