United States vs Australia prediction as clash of styles sets stage for intriguing encounter

The United States of America and Australia both claimed victory in their opening games - but in very different ways.

Team USA were irresistible as they smashed Paraguay 4-1 in a display full of attacking intent, while Australia made their rope-a-dope approach work to perfection with a 2-0 victory over Turkiye.

That sets up an intriguing clash of styles as the group stage continues with the two sides going head to head in Seattle's Lumen Field, with kick-off set for 12pm local time (8pm UK time).

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Australia celebrate Nestory Irankunda's opener against Turkiye

Australia were impressively disciplined against Turkiye (Image credit: Getty Images)

Australia almost looked to be unduly conservative in how they set up against Turkiye, but the wisdom of their approach was made clear by the two goals they scored.

Tony Popovic's side were happy to let the opposition have the majority of the possession and limit them to long shots, before launching rapid counter-attacks.

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Nestory Irankunda fires Australia ahead against Turkiye

Nestory Irankunda made an impression against Turkey (Image credit: Getty Images)

The enormously pacy Nestory Irankunda was a particularly potent outlet for them, and he scored in some style to put the Socceroos ahead before Connor Metcalfe's long-range strike made sure of the result 15 minutes from time.

We would expect them to take a similar approach against Mauricio Pochettino's men.

The co-hosts were impressively dominant against Paraguay, with Folarin Balogun bagging a brace in between an opening own goal from Damian Bobadilla and Giovanni Reyna's injury time strike.

'More of the same' will be the message from the former Spurs and Chelsea boss, too - and it could all come down to which side carries out their gameplan the better.

On the one hand: Australia are likely to offer more resistance than Paraguay. On the other: the Americans are also a very different proposition to a Turkiye side missing one of their best attacking players.

Folarin Balogun scored twice in the United States' 4-1 win over Paraguay

The United States blew Paraguay away in their opening game (Image credit: Getty Images)

We're ultimately going to err on the side of thinking that Australia will get something on the counter again, but that the United States will simply prove too difficult to keep out over the 90 minutes - even with key man Christian Pulisic an injury doubt.

A draw could realistically suit both sides - but we're going for a USA win.

Score prediction: USA 2-1 Australia
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