Pulisic, Turner and the ‘MMA’ midfield means best chance vs. El Salvador

After a two-month break, the United States men’s national team resumes World Cup qualifying with a game against El Salvador in Columbus, Ohio (Thursday, 7 p.m. ET; stream LIVE on ESPN2, ESPN+). It’s the first of a pivotal three-match window that includes a trip to Canada on Sunday before returning home to play Honduras in St. Paul, Minnesota on Wednesday.

Through eight of 14 matches, the United States is in a good position to qualify for Qatar 2022, but there is still lots of work to be done. With 15 points, the team sits a point behind first-place Canada and a point ahead of Mexico and Panama. Three teams will receive an automatic bid, while the fourth-place finisher in the region will play a one-off match against the winner of the Oceania Football Federation (likely New Zealand) in Qatar in June.

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On paper, El Salvador at home projects as one of the easiest games the United States will have throughout the entire cycle. The Americans are 18-1-6 all-time against El Salvador and have never lost to the Cuscatlecos in World Cup qualifying (5-0-4), but a win is not a given: the U.S. was held to a 0-0 draw on the road in the first match in September.

El Salvador has just one win (Panama at home) in eight matches and sits seventh out of eight teams. With six points, the team isn’t mathematically eliminated, but it’s far enough back where a draw is of little help. How that impacts manager Hugo Perez’s approach remains to be seen, but in the case the game remains level in the later stages, both teams will be incentivized to chase the winner.

United States manager Gregg Berhalter said Wednesday he doesn’t have a predetermined rotation mapped out for the three-game window and that the team’s priority is to get three points against El Salvador. While allowing for the possibility that anything a coach says about his lineup before a game could involve some level of gamesmanship, the implication was that he’ll field his best possible starting XI on Thursday.

With that in mind, here’s a look at how the United States could line up against El Salvador and what factors are in play.

Jump to: Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |

Goalkeeper

After Matt Turner allowed three goals while starting the first five matches of qualifying, the New England Revolution goalkeeper was dropped in favor of Zack Steffen for the last three games against Costa Rica, Mexico and Jamaica. Berhalter indicated Steffen’s ability to play the ball with his feet led to the decision, but it doesn’t appear he’ll have a real choice to make this time around — certainly not against El Salvador. As of Wednesday afternoon, Steffen remained with his club, Manchester City, getting treatment for back stiffness.

While Berhalter said Steffen’s status was “day to day,” it’s probably safe to assume Turner — who has been linked with a possible transfer to