USA vs. France Preview
Where: Mineirão – Belo Horizonte, Brazil
When: Saturday, August 6, 4:00 PM ET
Line: USA vs. France – view all women’s Olympic soccer lines
TV Broadcast: NBCSN
Writer’s Pick: Draw
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Offensive Edge – France
This France team is simply stacked. With Le Sommer, Camille Abily, Louisa Necib, Elodie Thomis and Marie-Laure Delie, they can call on five of the seven all-time top scorers in French history. There are still some fitness issues surrounding the USWNT’s midfield, and Les Bleues have the talent to overrun the Americans in the middle of the park.
The USWNT’s opening performance wasn’t quite as dominating, but they got the job done. The usual suspects – Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan – delivered the key goals in their 2-0 win over New Zealand. Morgan is now up to 68 career international goals, while Lloyd is at 89 with seven in the Olympics.
Mallory Pugh, the 18-year-old phenom, injured her ankle against the Football Ferns, and is now a doubt to feature against France. But Crystal Dunn can step into her spot in the starting lineup, while Megan Rapinoe – who is coming off an ACL injury – could be able to provide a few good minutes off the bench.
The U.S. doesn’t have quite the same amount of firepower as the French do, but the Americans still have enough quality to score a goal or two. The USWNT is still the overwhelming favorite at +120 to win gold.
Defensive Edge – USA
With another shutout against New Zealand, the U.S. has now kept four consecutive clean sheets, and six in its last seven games. The Americans were hardly troubled by the Football Ferns, and didn’t even allow a single shot on target.
Despite recent injury concerns, Morgan Brian held up relatively well in midfield alongside Allie Long. But U.S. manager Jill Ellis now has some decisions to make with regard to her midfield configuration against France.
The combination of Brian and Lindsey Horan combined to shut out the French in the SheBelieves Cup back in March. The Americans also silenced the deadly French forwards in the final of the Algarve Cup in 2015, which the U.S. won 2-0.
In fairness to the French, though, they have been on quite a run themselves defensively. They have now gone seven-straight games without conceding a single goal since losing 1-0 to the U.S. And of course, they had held the Americans scoreless for 90 minutes in that game before Morgan grabbed a stoppage time winner.
Writer’s Prediction: The U.S. is given a tough test by France, but the two sides share the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
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