Back the USA to earn a minimum of four corners against Paraguay on Saturday. Mauricio Pochettino’s men will be expected to take a front-footed approach in front of an expectant home crowd, but they may need to show patience against a Paraguay side likely to sit deep and frustrate. That should afford the Stars and Stripes ample opportunity to register at least four corners.

Moreover, the co-hosts racked up a whopping 10 corners against Germany in a friendly last weekend. It is also worth noting that Pochettino’s men have cleared the over 3.5 corner line in friendlies against the likes of Senegal, Belgium and Uruguay since the back end of last year. On top of that, the USA faced Paraguay in a friendly last November and forced five corner kicks.

Paraguay look well placed to pick up at least a couple of cards against the USA on Saturday. Gustavo Alfaro’s side averaged 2.12 cards per game during their World Cup qualifying campaign. A closer look shows the White and Red racked up multiple bookings in three of their final five qualifiers, including four in their clash away at Colombia.

The case for siding with this selection is strengthened further by the fact that Paraguay picked up two yellow cards in a 2-1 defeat to the USA in a friendly late last year.

It is also worth noting that Germany collected three cautions in last weekend’s 2-1 friendly win over the USA.

Folarin Balogun stands out as the strongest contender to register a shot on target. The USA forward has found his scoring touch at international level, with four of his nine goals for his country arriving across his last nine appearances.

One of those strikes came against Senegal last month, a match in which Balogun hit the target three times. He also scored with one of his two shots on target when the USA faced Paraguay in a friendly last year. The 24-year-old also caught the eye at the Copa America two years ago, scoring twice across his opening two appearances of the tournament.

What’s more, Balogun heads into the World Cup in strong form at club level, having scored 19 goals in 43 appearances for Monaco last season while averaging 1.29 shots on target per game in Ligue 1.

Folarin Balogun is worth backing to commit at least one foul. The USA forward leads the line with plenty of physicality and an aggressive press, which often sees him fall foul of the referee. That is reflected in the fact that across his four outings for the USA in 2026, Balogun has averaged 1.28 fouls per game, committing at least one in each of his last three appearances.

Balogun was also a regular offender for Monaco in Ligue 1 last season, averaging 1.81 fouls per 90, while he was also penalised in six of his final nine appearances in last season’s Champions League.

Paraguay’s expected centre back pairing of Gustavo Gomez and Omar Alderete were both drawing averages of 0.60 fouls per game during World Cup qualifying.

Look to Miguel Almiron to commit at least one foul on Saturday. The Paraguay playmaker was a relatively frequent fouler during World Cup qualifying, averaging 0.91 per game across the campaign.

That tendency was also evident at the Copa America a couple of years ago, where Almiron was penalised in all three of his appearances, including twice against Colombia. There is further encouragement from the fact that the 32-year-old has committed a foul in three of his six MLS starts this season.

Typically deployed on the left side of Paraguay's attack, Almiron is likely to spend plenty of time up against Sergino Dest, who was fouled twice when the two nations met in a friendly last year.