Saint Vincent & the Grenadines will welcome Anguilla to Arnos Vale Stadium this midweek as the two nations seek their first points in the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers (CONCACAF).
With both teams having lost their opening two fixtures, the hosts currently sit fourth in Group F, narrowly ahead of their visitors by virtue of a superior goal difference.
Match preview
Saint Vincent enter this fixture buoyed by a commendable run of form in May, during which they secured two victories and a draw.
The Vincy Heat dispatched Saint Kitts and Nevis both home and away in a two-legged friendly tie — 3-1 on their travels followed by a 3-0 triumph on their own soil — before playing out a 1-1 draw against the British Virgin Islands.
Under the stewardship of Ezra Hendrickson, the team have shown resilience, suffering just one loss in their last nine matches across all competitions, with that solitary setback being a 3-1 loss to Jamaica in the second leg of the Gold Cup preliminaries, culminating in a 4-1 aggregate exit and denying them a place in the tournament proper.
Despite opening their Group F campaign with consecutive defeats — 4-1 to Suriname and 3-1 to El Salvador — Saint Vincent remain four points adrift of the top two, leaving room for optimism as they prepare to face an opponent they have historically dominated.
Indeed, the Vincy Heat boast a perfect record against Anguilla, having triumphed in both previous encounters, including an emphatic 4-0 victory in their most recent meeting during the 2014 Caribbean Cup qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Anguilla find themselves at the foot of Group F, having conceded 12 goals without reply in their opening two matches — a 4-0 home defeat to Suriname followed by an 8-0 drubbing at the hands of Puerto Rico.
These results reflects the challenges faced by Keith Jeffrey's side, who, despite advancing to the second round of World Cup qualifying for the first time in their history after a penalty shootout victory over Turks and Caicos Islands, have struggled to compete at this level.
Recent form offers little encouragement either, with six defeats in their last eight outings across all competitions, during which Anguilla failed to score in five matches.
The latest setback came in a 2-0 friendly defeat to Grenada on Sunday, where Jeffrey's men conceded in both halves.
Team News
Brad Richards struck an 85th-minute equaliser in the previous outing and is expected to retain his place in Saint Vincent's midfield as reward for that late contribution.
Collin Joseph made his debut in the last match and could keep his place, while Dimitri Thomas, who started both previous encounters, may be handed a third consecutive cap.
Captain Oalex Anderson, who has netted the team's only two goals at this stage of the qualifiers, could return to the starting line-up after being named among the substitutes last time out.
Versatile defender Keante Brooks could be in line for his first World Cup qualifiers appearance for Anguilla, having featured in Sunday's friendly against Grenada.
Elsewhere, experienced goalkeeper Jalenie Lawrence is expected to remain between the sticks, while Jauron Gayle, Kyle Lake-Bryan and Aedan Scipion are likely to spearhead the attack.
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines possible starting lineup:
Abraham; Charles, Johnson, Yorke, D. Thomas; C. Joseph, Richards, Leigertwood, McBurnette; O. Anderson, Solomon
Anguilla possible starting lineup:
Lawrence; Leveret. Antoine Fleming, Hughes, K. Lee; Brooks, Carty, Alex Fleming; Gayle, Lake-Bryan, Scipio
We say: Saint Vincent & the Grenadines 2-0 Anguilla
Saint Vincent head into this one as clear favourites based on their superior head-to-head record and overall recent showings, so anything short of victory against an Anguilla side who sit second from bottom in the latest FIFA World Rankings would be seen as a major upset.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adeyeye Oluwapelumi
