Australia bounced back strongly from its opening game defeat to the United States, as it edged past Nigeria in a hotly-contested Group D clash Friday. The Matildas will look to grab back-to-back wins and book their passage to the knockout round when they take on Sweden in a do-or-die showdown at Commonwealth Stadium this coming Tuesday.
Who will emerge victorious in this Group of Death matchup? Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this blockbuster clash and while you’re at it, you can check out our World Cup previews of Nigeria vs. USA and Canada vs. Netherlands.
Australia will head to its crunch clash with Sweden with momentum on its side after recording a convincing 2-0 win over Nigeria on Friday. Kyah Simon scored a crucial double for the Matildas who climbed into second place in the Group of Death with three points to their name.
[sc:Soccer240banner ]The Aussies’ victory wouldn’t be possible, though, without the heroics of their captain Lisa De Vanna. She was the catalyst for Australia’s opening goal, gliding around defenders Osinachi Ohale and Halimatu Ayinde before providing the assist to Simon. It was a tour-de-force performance from De Vanna who was all over the pitch the entire match. What made De Vanna’s feat so incredible was that she was able to accomplish it even with a serious ankle injury.
The Matildas will need more of the same from De Vanna if they are to shock Sweden this coming Tuesday. Thanks to De Vanna’s energy in midfield, the Matildas were able to control 51% of the possession against Nigeria. That helped Australia establish a 13-12 edge in shot attempts and a 5-3 advantage in the shots on target department against the Nigerians.
That being said, Sweden will be a much tougher proposition for Australia. Australian coach Alen Stajcic echoed that sentiment in a recent interview, saying, “They (Sweden) have four or five quality attacking players in their team and Lotta Schelin is in the top two or three in the world.”
The Matildas will fancy their chances of stopping such a great offensive team, though, with the timely return of goalkeeper Lydia Williams. The 27-year-old was a solid presence in the back for Australia, recording two saves in her tournament debut against Nigeria. Williams already has 40 caps for Australia and her experience will be vital for the Matildas in what is undoubtedly their biggest match of the competition.
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Betting on Sweden
Sweden’s World Cup campaign is definitely hanging in the balance after enduring a frustrating 0-0 stalemate against the United States on Friday. It was the second consecutive draw for Sweden in this competition as it slid down to third place in the Group D table with just two points to its name.
That being said, the Swedes will take heart in the fact that they produced a much powerful performance this time around against the Americans compared to their opener against Nigeria. The Swedes even had a grand opportunity to take all three points in this match but Caroline Seger’s effort in the 75th minute was spectacularly denied from the goalline by Meghan Klingenberg.
The Swedes will need to bring all their attacking flair if they are to grab the all-important win against Australia. The onus is on Lotta Schelin to pick up the scoring cudgels for the Swedes. The captain has a whopping 80 goals in 152 international appearances for Sweden but surprisingly hasn’t scored a single goal in this competition thus far.
For Sweden to record its first victory of the competition, it needs to dictate the tempo of the match and control the midfield battle right from the get-go. It’s quite astonishing that the Swedes have lost the possession battle in their first two games of the competition. They just had 49% of the possession in their opening matches against Nigeria and USA and were outshot 26-16. That’s simply unacceptable for a quality attacking side like Sweden that is currently ranked fifth in the world.
Writer’s Prediction
Sweden (+122) wins, 2-1, to advance to the knockout stage of the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
