Gold Cup 2017: Dates, Odds, TV Schedule and Tournament Predictions

The CONCACAF Gold Cup makes its return to centre stage on Friday, as 12 of the best teams from the confederation begin their quests to seal silverware and also strengthen their bid to feature at the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.

The United States and Mexico will again be considered as the two top contenders to triumph in the summer showcase, with those two nations accounting for 12 of the 13 Gold Cups that have been awarded up until now.

El Tri boast a slim advantage over the Stars and Stripes in success as they've won seven of those 12 while the United States account for five, but the latter will be hoping to improve that record under new manager Bruce Arena.

No sooner has the 2017 Confederations Cup finished—Germany beat Chile 1-0 in Sunday's final—than its next qualification tournament starts. The winner of this competition will play the 2019 Gold Cup victor in an elimination decider.

Read on as we preview the tournament and provide all the necessary information to watch the action, complete with predicted winner and which teams we'll see fall out of the reckoning first.

Start Date: Friday, July 7

End Date: Wednesday, July 26

Odds

Mexico: 13-10

United States: 6-4

Costa Rica: 6-1

Panama: 16-1

Honduras: 20-1

Jamaica: 25-1

Canada: 30-1

El Salvador: 100-1

Nicaragua: 150-1

Curacao: 150-1

French Guiana: 250-1

Martinique: 250-1

Matches are broadcast on Fox Sports and can be streamed via Fox Soccer 2GO. All odds are provided courtesy of Oddschecker.com.

Preview and Predictions

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Squad selection has proved to be a particularly intriguing factor for coaches in this year's Gold Cup, with the tournament finely balanced amid domestic loyalties, the Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Mexico have named an inexperienced roster, with only six of their initial 23-man squad boasting a cap count in double digits and four potential debutants in the mix.

In contrast, the United States have only one uncapped player present—Cristian Roldan of the Seattle Sounders—and nine players with 10 international appearances or more, five of whom carry at least 40 international caps into this year's Gold Cup.

That advantage puts the Stars and Stripes in good stead, and broadcaster Nick Camino praised Arena's impact after putting together an eight-match unbeaten run:

But what El Tri are lacking in seasoned stars, they tend to make up for in tactical awareness and faith in their system, not to mention the fact all but one player in their squad plies their trade in Liga MX, Mexico's top tier.

That said, manager Juan Carlos Osorio was hit by the recent news that Alan Pulido—the most reliable striker previously in his squad—was ruled out by injury, with Erick Torres his replacement, per Goal's Ives Galarcep:

ESPN FC's Tom Marshall critiqued the youth in Osorio's selection, as well as the fact the Mexico coach hasn't had an extended period overseeing all those players picked:

"Let's be very clear: If Mexico's World Cup squad was picked tomorrow, perhaps only Jesus Corona, Jesus Duenas, Luis Reyes and Orbelin Pineda of the Gold Cup squad would be included by coach Juan Carlos Osorio. Not one would be considered a starter."

"This is a Mexico squad loosely showcasing Nos. 23-46 in the nation's depth chart. Only Houston Dynamo's Erick Torres is based outside of Mexico and the team has had just two friendlies to find some chemistry. Neither of those matches was coached by Osorio, because the 56-year-old was over in Russia guiding the first-team to a fourth-place finish at the Confederations Cup."

Faith in Osorio is at something of a low right now, just days after his side lost their Confederations Cup third-place play-off 2-1 in extra time to Portugal.

But KICK recently argued for the tactician to remain in his post, despite this being the nation's third defeat in 2017:

The play-off defeat may have been difficult to take considering Mexico led 1-0 until the dying minutes of normal time, but some breakout displays at the Gold Cup could quickly earn back some respect.

It often tends to be the case that the Caribbean teams tend not to challenge for the top two in the Gold Cup, although expert Nathan Carr highlighted the 2015 success of Costa Rica, Haiti, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago:

Of those four teams, Costa Rica or Panama may be the more favoured to launch a run at this year's title considering their recent records read more positively, although Haiti have also won four of their last five matches.

The United States will be happy to know they're going up against less experienced Mexican rivals and will fancy their chances in a group containing Honduras, Martinique and Nicaragua, with the title theirs for the taking.

Prediction: United States to beat Mexico in 2017 Gold Cup final.