USA W vs Netherlands W prediction: WORLD: World Cup Women betting tips on match 2023-07-26 01:00.
Things went as the form book predicted in the USA’s Women’s World Cup (WWC) opener as the favourites to win an unprecedented third title in succession dispatched Vietnam comfortably with a 3-0 victory. That success went some way to silencing the critics who have suggested this more youthful USA side would struggle to meet the lofty standards they’ve set in recent previous WWC editions.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski saw room for improvement, though, stating post-match: “At the end, I just felt like we needed to be a little bit better with the final shot.” That comment is in reference to the fact his team managed 27 shots – including a penalty miss – but scored just three goals. Even still, Saturday’s success made it ten wins from as many matches for the USA, without a single goal conceded in any of the last four.
The Netherlands also picked up a victory in their opening game, seeing off tournament debutants Portugal with a 1-0 win. They should now be extremely motivated to make it two wins from two against the team who stopped them from securing their first-ever WWC success back in 2019 where they suffered a 2-0 defeat in the final. The two sides have met twice since then, with the Orange Lionesses losing on both occasions – the most recent by way of penalties in the quarter-finals of the 2020 Olympic games.
Confidence should be high, however, that they can get their revenge under manager Andries Jonker, as the Netherlands have won eight of their 11 matches since his arrival last summer following a disappointing European Championships under Mark Parsons. Yet, the outspoken Jonker has been guilty of ruffling a few feathers on the southern hemisphere, most recently for being caught out on camera telling one of his players to go down and fake an injury against Portugal.
Players to watch: USA’s Rose Lavelle has been a consistent thorn in the side of the Netherlands, scoring in each of the last three H2H meetings, although the latest strike was from the penalty spot in their Olympic games shootout success. Opponent Lieke Martens missed a crucial penalty in the final ten minutes of that game with the score tied at 2-2 and will be hoping for revenge. Her confidence should be high after a goal and assist against Belgium just prior to the start of the WWC.
Hot stat: The Netherlands have scored before half-time in seven of their last eight matches.