Women’s World Cup Saturday predictions: Strikers can have a field day for big guns
Recommended bets:
- Sophia Smith to score two or more goals in USA vs Vietnam
- Barbara Banda to score in Zambia vs Japan
- Rachel Daly to score two or more goals in England vs Haiti
- Draw in Denmark vs China
The two market leaders in the race for the Women’s World Cup enter the fray on the third day of competition in Australia and New Zealand and both the USA and England will expect to start their group campaigns with comfortable victories over Vietnam and Haiti respectively.
In a packed Saturday of action, 2011 champions Japan have a potentially tricky clash against debutants Zambia, while the Lionesses’ other two Group D rivals Denmark and China meet in another key encounter.
USA vs Vietnam (Saturday, 2am)
Vietnam have reached the World Cup finals for the first time and they could not have been handed a tougher first assignment than a clash with four-time winners and two-time defending champions, the USA, in their Group E opener.
A 9-0 defeat to Spain in their most recent friendly will have done nothing for their confidence and this could be a similar story to the Americans' first group game four years ago when they beat Thailand 13-0 in France.
Veteran striker Alex Morgan leads the goalscoring market, but this is a great opportunity for Sophia Smith to make her mark after scoring 10 goals in 13 National Women’s Soccer League appearances for Portland Thorn this season.
Zambia vs Japan (Saturday, 8am)
Japan will have gained some confidence from a 5-0 friendly win over Panama, but their last 12 months have been patchy and Zambia are likely to press hard.
The Africans are on this stage for the first time, but will feel they can take on anyone after a dramatic 3-2 win over fancied Germany in their last friendly.
Barbara Banda is likely to be their chief threat, having scored twice against the Germans.
She also scored hat-tricks against the Netherlands and China at the Tokyo Olympics, so has proved she can perform on the biggest stage.
England vs Haiti (Saturday, 10.30am)
England will have eyes on glory after winning the Euros last year and after two successive sem-final appearances, they should get off to a good start with a comfortable win over Haiti.
Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly scored nine goals in her final five Women’s Super League matches of the season to win the Golden Boot and this looks a good opportunity for her to assert herself in the Lionesses’ attack against a team ranked 55th in the world.
Take Daly to score at least twice in what should be a coast for Sarina Wiegman’s team.
Denmark vs China (Saturday, 1pm)
There is a good chance that the winner of this game could progress alongside England in Group D, but that does not mean this will turn into a great spectacle.
China have bounced back from a period of turmoil by winning the Asian Cup while Denmark were strong in qualifying.
However, it could be a cagey affair and while six of the Danes’ last seven matches have featured fewer than three goals, the draw looks a big runner and provides some decent value, particularly with so much at stake.
