The bookies make the Americans favourite to win at Ellis Park on Friday night, although there shouldn’t be much between these teams, both of whom will feel they have a chance of making the last sixteen after encouraging first game results.

Slovenia edged matters against Algeria and are likely to employ the same ‘safety-first’ tactics which saw them concede just four goals in World Cup qualifying and also edge out Russia in a play-off. Matjaz Kek has a modest group of players, although the defence is super-organised and they should deal with Jozy Altidore in the US attack.

While Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey both demonstrated an ability to find space against England, it will be interesting to see whether Bob Bradley’s team can take the game to their opponents after spending much of the time on the back foot in Rustenburg. We also shouldn’t forget that the US defence rode their luck on occasions in the opener and could be vulnerable to the Slovenia counter-attack.


PREDICTION: SLOVENIA on DRAW NO BET MARKET @ 2.60 with Bwin