Netherlands W vs Portugal W prediction: WORLD: World Cup Women betting tips on match 2023-07-22 07:30.
Runners-up in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Netherlands have only one thing on their mind as this year’s tournament gets underway. Oranje suffered a 2-0 defeat to the USA in the final in France four years ago, and are now out to atone for that heartbreaking loss as they look to lift the trophy for the first time.
Andries Jonker’s side certainly appear to be finding form at the right time, given they had won five of their last seven matches (L2) before facing South Korea in a top-secret behind-closed-doors match on Monday – the result of which wasn’t disclosed. The most recent of those wins was a 5-0 hammering of Belgium earlier this month, a result which will come as a welcome boost given they are without all-time top scorer Vivianne Miedema, who ruptured her ACL playing for Arsenal back in December.
That absence may provide a lift to opponents Portugal who have lost their last three fixtures against the Dutch. Francisco Neto’s side do head into the competition on the back of a confidence-lifting 2-0 friendly victory over Ukraine though, a ninth win in their last dozen outings (D2, L1).
Neto is the longest-serving head coach at the World Cup, and having qualified for the tournament for the first time in their history, his squad are under no illusions that reaching the knock-out stages will be tough. However, experienced forward Carolina Mendes hopes the Portuguese can spring a surprise or two, insisting their game style is “different from all the national teams: more technical, less physical.”
Key battle: Filling the void left by Miedema, Netherlands forward Katja Snoeijs has netted six goals in her last seven appearances for club or country, with five of those strikes coming after half-time. She might be hoping to get the better of goalkeeper PatrĂcia Morais, who has only kept one clean sheet in her last eight competitive games for Portugal.
Hot stat: Only two of the Netherlands’ last nine matches have seen both teams score.