England opened its World Cup campaign in disappointing fashion, suffering a gut-wrenching loss to European rivals France on Tuesday. The Three Lions will look to keep their qualification hopes alive when they take on Mexico this coming Saturday in a blockbuster showdown at Moncton Stadium.
Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this much-anticipated clash and while you’re at it, you can check out our previews of Japan vs. Cameroon and Brazil vs. Spain.
[sc:Soccer240banner ]England’s World Cup stint is off to a horrible start after absorbing a 1-0 defeat at the hands of group favorites France on Tuesday. A Eugenie Le Sommer long-range strike in the 29th minute was enough for the French to take all three points and send England crashing to the bottom of the group standings.
Manager Mark Sampson set his team up in a defensive formation to contain a French side ranked third in the FIFA world rankings. It still wasn’t enough, however, to thwart France as the Three Lions were outmatched in every facet of the game. England only had 42% of the possession in this match and was outshot by France by a whopping 16-3 margin. The French also had a 4-1 advantage in the shots on target department.
That was expected, though, considering the French are ranked three places above the English in the world rankings. That being said, England will take comfort in the fact that it was able to stifle France’s world-class forwards for almost the entire match.
With Mexico as its next opponents, we can expect the Three Lions to be a more attacking side this time around. For England to grab the victory this coming Saturday, it needs star striker Eniola Aluko to be more aggressive in the final third. Aluko was a non-factor in England’s group opener as the French were able to deny the passing lanes and isolate her upfront. Aluko needs to rediscover the form that has enabled her to score 32 goals in 90 caps for England.
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Betting on Mexico
Mexico’s quest for a first ever World Cup win is still ongoing after it was held to a surprise 1-1 draw by Colombia on Tuesday. Daniella Montoya scored a dramatic equalizer with eight minutes left to give Colombia a share of the spoils.
It was a disappointing result for Mexico who seemed to be in complete control of the match. The Mexicans had 56% of the possession in the group opener and had more shot attempts compared to the Colombians (8-7).
What led to Mexico’s downfall, however, was its futility in front of goal. The Mexicans only registered just one shot attempt on goal and that was the speculative shot which saw Veronica Perez score in the 35th minute.
The Mexicans need to be more clinical in front of goal if they are to upset England this coming Saturday. The onus is on Monica Ocampo to be more involved on the offensive end.
She has scored 14 goals in 41 appearances for the Mexican national team. The Mexicans will also need to be more solid at the back as they will face one of the best attacking sides in the women’s game today. England scored a whopping 52 goals in the recent World Cup qualifying stages.
