Know Your Enemy - Attackers
What the formula says about the likely starting attackers (minus strikers) the US will face in the World Cup group stage
England
Phil Foden
Age (in November) - 22
Club Career - just started his sixth season in the English Premier League; 24 goals & 13 assists in 98 Premier League caps
International Career - 0 goals & 4 assists in 7 World Cup qualification caps this cycle
Recent Form - just started his sixth season with Manchester City in the Premier League; 28 caps, 9 goals, 5 assists last season
Formula Scores (through the end of the 21-22 season)
RAW - .780
HOT - .661
Raheem Sterling
Age (in November) - 27
Club Career - just started his twelfth season in the English Premier League; 109 goals & 57 assists in 321 Premier League caps
International Career - member of the 2014 & 2018 English World Cup squads
2014 - started two of three group stage matches; 3 caps, 182 minutes, 0 goals, 0 assists; England finished bottom of their group, losing to Italy and Uruguay and drawing Costa Rica
2018 - started two of three group stage matches and all four knockout matches; 6 caps, 451 minutes, 0 goals, 1 assist; England finished fourth behind France, Croatia, and Belgium
Recent Form - just started his first season with Chelsea in the Premier League; 30 caps, 13 goals, 5 assists with Manchester City last season
Formula Scores (through the end of the 21-22 season)
RAW - .717
HOT - .512
Wales
Gareth Bale
Age (in November) - 33
Club Career - two seasons in the English second tier, seven seasons in the English Premier League, eight seasons in the Spanish La Liga, and just started his first season in MLS; 54 goals & 22 assists in 166 Premier League caps; 81 goals & 40 assists in 176 La Liga caps
International Career - 5 goals & 4 assists in 7 World Cup qualification caps this cycle
Recent Form - just started his first season with LAFC in MLS; 5 caps, 1 goal, 0 assists with Real Madrid in La Liga last season
Formula Scores (through the end of the 21-22 season)
RAW - .313
HOT - .000
Aaron Ramsey
Age (in November) - 31
Club Career - two seasons in the English second tier, eleven seasons in the English Premier League, three seasons in Italian Serie A, one season in the Scottish top tier, and just started his first season in French Ligue 1; 40 goals & 45 assists in 262 Premier League caps; 5 goals & 5 assists in 49 Serie A caps
International Career - 3 goals & 0 assists in 6 World Cup qualification caps this cycle
Recent Form - just started his first season with Nice in Ligue 1; 3 caps, 0 goals, 0 assists with Juventus in Serie A last season, 7 caps, 2 goals, 1 assist with Rangers in the Premiership last season
Formula Scores (through the end of the 21-22 season)
RAW - .392
HOT - .151
Iran
Alireza Jahanbakhsh
Age (in November) - 29
Club Career - one season in the Iranian second tier, two seasons in the Iranian top tier, one season in the Dutch second tier, three seasons in the English Premier League, and just started his sixth season in the Dutch top tier; 2 goals & 1 assist in 50 Premier League caps
International Career - member of the 2014 & 2018 Iranian World Cup squads
2014 - played in all three group stage matches; 3 caps, 47 minutes, 0 goals, 0 assists; Iran finished bottom of their group, drawing Nigeria and losing to Argentina and Bosnia & Herzegovina
2018 - started two of three group stage matches; 3 caps, 170 minutes, 0 goals, 0 assists; Iran finished third in their group, beating Morocco, losing to Spain, and drawing Portugal
Recent Form - just started his second season with Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie; 27 caps, 4 goals, 3 assists last season
Formula Scores (through the end of the 21-22 season)
RAW - .395
HOT - .189
Sardar Azmoun
Age (in November) - 27
Club Career - nine seasons in the Russian top tier, and just started his second season in the German Bundesliga; 1 goal & 1 assist in 9 Bundesliga caps
International Career - member of the 2018 Iranian World Cup squad; started all three group stage matches; 3 caps, 270 minutes, 0 goals, 0 assists; Iran finished third in their group, beating Morocco, losing to Spain, and drawing Portugal
Recent Form - just started his second season with Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga; 9 caps, 1 goal, 1 assist last season (transferred mid-year from Russia)
Formula Scores (through the end of the 21-22 season)
RAW - .376
HOT - .390