Alright, so we did a predictions blog post for the United States’ 1-1 draw with England to open Group C play last Saturday. We did another predictions blog post for the 2-2 draw between the U.S. and Slovenia this past Friday. Noticing a pattern in the results here?

Considering the Americans need a victory on Wednesday morning against Algeria to assure themselves of a spot in the knock-out round (a draw can put the U.S. through, but only with help in the England - Slovenia game), I’m almost tempted to skip out on the predictions blog post out of mere superstition. But in the end I managed to convince myself that whether or not I hit “publish” on a blog post doesn’t actually have any influence on the United States’ World Cup results (as hard as that is to believe).

I have to admit I was a little overconfident heading into the Slovenia game last week, mostly because I didn’t think I saw much to worry me when the Slovenians defeated the Algerians by a 1-0 score line in their first match. As such, I predicted a 2-0 win for the U.S., and clearly that didn’t exactly come to fruition as Slovenia took a 2-0 lead into the halftime break. Of course, the Americans did put together a valiant comeback to earn a 2-2 draw … some woud even say a 3-2 win considering the phantom foul called by Koman Coulibaly which negated Maurice Edu’s potential late game-winner.

Safe to say, I have not learned my lesson, because I will once again predict a 2-0 win for the U.S. over Algeria on Wednesday morning. Not only that, but I think England beats Slovenia and the U.S. finishes top of the group, ahead of England on goal difference. Here’s why …

First of all, the U.S. is simply due for a clean sheet. A goalkeeper the caliber of Tim Howard shouldn’t go this long without shutting someone out (I think it’s something like 12 games), and I think he’ll finally get the necessary defensive support to pull it off against what appears to be a pretty toothless Algerian side. Those could be famous last words, but I guess we’ll see.

Then, there’s the American attack, which started to click in the second half against Slovenia and looks capable of scoring a couple more goals on Wednesday. I’ll say it’s Donovan (again) and Altidore getting on the score sheet. It’s a bit of a bold prediction considering Algeria has conceded just one goal in its first two games - and that on a goalkeeping error - but the Africans will be forced to open up a bit as they push for their first goal of the tournament, because they need a win to have any chance of advancing.

So what’s your prediction? Let me know, and once again, feel free to get into the details and reasoning if you’re so inclined.

Predictions aside, I simply cannot wait for Wednesday morning’s do-or-die game. Join me and members of the Revolution at the World Cup “Win and In” party at CBS Scene, hosted by the Revs and 98.5 The Sports Hub, to enjoy the action with plenty of other screaming supporters! You can find more information on that event here.