The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off on Thursday, with Australia and New Zealand (the host nations) notching wins.
The tournament’s first group-stage matches will continue through the weekend. Two of the Women’s World Cup favourites will play over the weekend. Four-time winner the United States will start their campaign and European Champions England will get off the mark.
Let’s look at three games for this weekend from the Women’s World Cup.
United States vs Vietnam
The United States will start with Vietnam on Saturday morning/Friday night USA time. The Americans are the No 1 team in the world and will play the No 32 ranked side.
Vietnam is nowhere near the class of the USWNT. Keep in mind that the Women’s World Cup expanded to 32 teams for this year’s tournament. The competition is likely watered down.
How good are Vietnam? Not very. The Vietnamese lost their final World Cup warm-up 9-0 to Spain. The Spanish are the second-favourite to the USWNT to win the tournament.
The USWNT should open up the World Cup with a win. This shouldn’t be close, with the Yanks winning by more than 3.5 goals.
Winner: United States, over 3.5 goals scored
England vs Haiti
Over in Group D, England will play Haiti in another David versus Goliath match-up. England is the No 4 ranked team in the world and coming off last summer’s European Championship tournament win. The Lionesses have some injury issues, so may not have enough to win the World Cup for the first time.
Haiti is just at the tournament to make up the numbers. Ranked No 53 in the world, Haiti’s recent wins have come against poor national teams. The Haitians’ only warm-up match for the tournament was a 2-1 loss to South Korea, who is also at the tournament.
Haiti is likely to come last in Group D, while China and Denmark fight for second place. England do not go into the tournament in good form, however. The Lionesses failed to win their last three games. A loss to Australia and back-to-back draws against Portugal and Canada saw England fail to score for 270 minutes.
England should get things right against Haiti on Saturday, mostly because the Haitians won’t be able to hang with the Lionesses. It could be a low-scoring game based on England’s lack of goals.
Winner: England, over 1.5 goals
Netherlands vs Portugal
The Netherlands will play Portugal on Sunday at Forsyth Barr Stadium. The two teams are in Group E alongside the United States and Haiti. On paper, second place will be a battle between these sides.
Portugal start the tournament ranked No 21 in the world. This is the Portuguese’s first-ever Women’s World Cup tournament appearance. The team go into the tournament with just one win from their last five international matches. It isn’t a great record.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, won their last two games by a combined score of 9-1. The Oranje’s most recent match, played on July 2, was a 5-0 spanking of Belgium. If the Dutch can get a win over Portugal in the first game, it will set them up nicely against the USWNT in the second match. But this game should be close and end in a draw.
Portugal and the Netherlands should be plenty closely matched. The game should be low scoring with under 2.5 goals, as the European nations play out a draw.
Result: Draw, under 2.5 goals
#fantasyfootball #Sports #Betting #sportsbetting #sportsbettingadvice #freepick #freepicks #sportsbettingtips #handicapping #predictions #sportspredictions #NFL #esports #espn #NBA #NHL #sportsprediction #ncaa #mlb #WNBA #prediction #nhl #nhlplayoffs #nhlpicks #nbapicks #NBAPlayoffs #NFLPlayoffs #espnsports #bettingsports #bettingtips #bettingonline #bettingexpert #basketball #football #soccer #hockey #sportspicks #ncaabasketball #foxsports #cbssports #soccerpredictions #sportingbet