The United States men’s soccer team needs someone to spark its stagnant offense to defeat Iran on Tuesday and reach the World Cup knockout stages, and who better than Chelsea striker Christian Pulisic?
Although bettors have been slamming USA and making the price of the line a little scary to take (+100 on DraftKings), perhaps there’s some value in taking some props for the highly anticipated matchup.
Christian Pulisic Props For Iran-USA
According to BetMGM‘s John Ewing, the top three bets are on Christian Pulisic anytime goal (+230), both teams to score (+105) and over 2.5 (+120).
In the 0-0 tie against England on Friday, Pulisic was the closest any player got to finding the back of the net. After Weston McKennie found him on the left wing, Pulisic fired a shot over England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, but the strike nailed the top crossbar head on.
Christian Pulisic hits the crossbar ?
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Although the United States and Iran have both struggled to score goals, the over is an interesting play. If there’s a goal early, then either team will be pressing and allowing some counterattacking opportunities throughout the match. If not, though, then Iran will likely try to play conservatively and keep the United States off the board entirely since it likely only needs a draw to advance to the next round of the World Cup.
In the first two games, USA scored just one goal and lacked chances, with coach Gregg Berhalter leaving talented attacker Gio Reyna out of all the action besides the last 11 minutes of the England match. There will most certainly be more pressure on Berhalter to insert Reyna, and the U.S. will undoubtedly be taking more risks to find goals against Iran.
Iran-USA Pick: Over 2.5
