Martiniquevs.Guyana

On matchday one, Les Matinino were beaten 3-1 by Guatemala, while Guyana lost by that same score at home to Suriname.

Match preview

From the outset, Martinique were on their heels against the Guatemalans, conceding in the third minute and chasing the ball through a good portion of the opening half.

Although they found an equaliser five minutes after the interval, their joy was short-lived as this team were behind for good just beyond the hour mark, extending their winless run to three matches across all competitions.

Since suffering a 6-4 defeat in their final group fixture at the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Marc Collat's men have scored a goal or fewer in six successive competitive fixtures.

Despite a rough opening match, this side will fancy their chances of claiming maximum points on Monday, winning both of their group fixtures at home in the Nations League last year and failing to concede in either encounter.

Martinique have not conceded a single goal in the opening half of a Nations League fixture played at Stade Pierre-Aliker but have only scored twice in the final 45 minutes in Fort-de-France.

Les Matinino are undefeated in their four previous matches played against Guyana, beating them 2-0 in a friendly last year.

The opening match for Guyana played out similarly to Martinique's with the home side, drawing level two minutes before the interval but conceding twice in the second half.

Jamaal Shabazz saw his side have 55% possession but rarely looked threatening against Suriname, who burned them several times in transition.

As a result, Guyana's seven-match unbeaten run in the Nations League ended, though all of those previous encounters before Thursday occurred in League B.

Getting a result away from home has been a daunting challenge for this team, who have lost their previous four competitive fixtures as the visitors.

Guyana have not lost consecutive Nations League encounters since 2019, when they followed up a 4-0 defeat to Jamaica with a 2-1 loss versus Antigua and Barbuda.

While they have never beaten Martinique, the Golden Jaguars have avoided defeat in two of their previous three encounters against them, including a come-from-behind 2-2 draw in 2012.

Martinique CONCACAF Nations League form:

L

Martinique form (all competitions):

L

W

W

D

D

L

Guyana CONCACAF Nations League form:

L

Guyana form (all competitions):

W

L

L

L

W

L

Team News

In their opening match, Collat gave three Martinique players their first caps with the national team, as Marvin Bellance started at the back, while Rudy Varane and Lucas Ardennes came on as substitutes.

Kevin Appin briefly drew his side level versus Guatemala by scoring his first international goal, while Brighton Lebeau had a chance to equalise with his side down 2-1 but missed a penalty in the second half.

Middlesbrough winger Isaiah Jones made his international debut for Guyana on Thursday, one of four newcomers to the squad that did not begin their World Cup qualifier versus Belize, with the others being Curtez Kellman, Reiss Greenidge and Kadell Daniel.

Omari Glasgow converted a 43rd-minute penalty for Guyana to level their match with Suriname, his 17th with the national team, and he can join Nigel Codrington for the most career goals as a member of the Golden Jaguars should he find the back of the net in this one.

Martinique possible starting lineup:

Clementia; Dussaut, Poulolo, Rivierez, Moutachy; Mandouki, Appin, Grelet; Marajo, Labeau, Burner

Guyana possible starting lineup:

Roberts; Kellman, Vancooten, Greenbridge, Daniel; Bonds, Wilson; Glasgow, Duke-McKenna, I. Jones; Moore

We say: Martinique 1-1 Guyana

There is no clear favourite in this one as they each have some solid attacking weapons, but neither have shown an ability to consistently bury the chances presented to them.

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