Guatemala vs Czech Republic Prediction: Europeans set for confidence-boosting win

Czech Republic will ramp up their World Cup preparations in the early hours of Friday morning (1am BST) with an international friendly against Guatemala.

The match will take place at Sports Illustrated Stadium, home of the New York Red Bulls, in New Jersey as the European side attempt to acclimatise to North America where the tournament is being hosted.

Two Czech Republic group games will take place in Mexico while the other will be held in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States and so facing Guatemala, a member of CONCACAF, will provide a good test in the conditions.

Team news

Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick is expected to start for Czech Republic having missed last Sunday's win over Kosovo. However, forward Jan Kuchta is a doubt with an ankle problem.

Manager Miroslav Koubek made eight substitutions against Kosovo and, while he is expected to name his strongest starting line-up on Friday, he will likely ring the changes again in the second half as he assesses his team ahead of the tournament.

The Guatemala squad has a clean bill of health and so coach Luis Fernando Tena has a full team to choose from.

Football Odds

Guatemala vs Czech Republic Odds

Czech Republic are priced at 1/3 to earn victory on Friday while Guatemala are 7/1to win the game. The draw is priced at 10/3.

Both teams to score is 1/1 while under 1.5 goals is 3/1. Czech Republic to win both halves is 9/5.

Over 3.5 goals @ 13/8

Czech Republic will face a Guatemala side that conceded seven goals against Algeria last time out.

The Central American nation have kept just one clean sheet in 12 matches, so forward Schick will be hoping to get his name on the scoresheet ahead of his nation’s Group A opener against South Korea on June 11.

Czech Republic have scored two or more goals in five of their last six matches, which included a 6-0 victory over Gibraltar back in November.

There were six different scorers that night, proving Koubek’s team can share the goals around the pitch.

The European side are favourites to win on Friday and while the result is important, a performance with goals will indicate they are ready to play in hot and humid conditions.

Guatemala have failed to score in their last two friendlies and there is a considerable gap in quality between the two sides. With that in mind, it could prove that Czech Republic dominate and record all the goals when the sides meet on Friday.

First team to score - Czech Republic @ 2/9

Czech Republic have opened the scoring in four of their last five matches with goals netted as early as the third and fifth minutes.

The European side will be eager to take charge of Friday’s match as getting ahead will allow the team to dictate the speed of play in the North American heat.

Guatemala have gone behind in three of their last four matches and so backing Czech Republic to open the scoring on Friday may be a wise pick.