Australia W vs England W prediction: WORLD: World Cup Women – Play Offs betting tips on match 2023-08-15 10:00.
Aiming to become the first host nation to win the Women’s World Cup (WWC) since the turn of the century, Australia face arguably the sternest test of their credentials yet in this semi-final. Roared on by what will undoubtedly be a raucous Sydney crowd, Australia stand on the brink of yet more history, with England standing in their way of what would be a first-ever WWC final appearance.
Even just making the last four is a first for the Matildas, who booked their place in this showdown with a penalties victory over France after a 0-0 draw over 120 minutes. And it’s been strong defensive showings which have got Australia this far, as they’re the only team in the semi-finals to have kept four clean sheets on their way to getting there. It was a much similar story the last time these nations met too, with a 2-0 Australia win in April 2023 handing Tony Gustavsson’s side the psychological advantage ahead of this huge showdown.
Despite having reached the semi-finals, England have been rather unconvincing in getting here. A 6-1 thrashing of China aside, the Lionesses’ three other tournament victories have all come by slender one goal margins, leaving Sarina Wiegman scratching her head as to what has happened to the current European champions, who had to battle from behind against Colombia to book their spot in the last four.
Wiegman is aware of the size of the task that awaits her side here, describing it as an “away game” given the size of the Aussie following that will pack out the Stadium Australia. That may prove to be a psychological barrier to overcome for England, as even home advantage didn’t help them in their aforementioned April defeat to Australia, a result which serves as their only loss since April 2021!
Players to watch: Australia’s Mary Fowler has proved to be influential of late, contributing to goals in three of her last five appearances (G2, A1), with both goals arriving after half-time. Alessia Russo was England’s hero in the quarters and has accumulated more shots on target (11) than any other player at this WWC. The Lionesses’ will be hoping their lucky charm strikes again as they’ve won on all ten of her international scoring appearances.
Hot stat: Just two of Australia’s last 13 internationals have seen both teams score.