Argentina Women vs Japan Women Predictions

Unlike in the men’s game, Argentina come into this tournament largely unfancied. They’ve often come up short on the big stage, while they’re up against a very strong Japan side, a side that comes into this match as long odds-on favourites. Having lost in the final back in 2015, the Japanese will be hoping to go one better in France.

Argentina did warm up for this World Cup by beating fellow South American’s Uruguay (3-1) back in May, though it’s one thing facing a side of Uruguay’s calibre and another taking on the likes of Japan, who’re currently ranked 7^th in world. In contrast, Uruguay rank in a lowly 74^th.

Prior to their victory against the Uruguayans, Argentina went four games without a win. During that time, they lost against Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. Only one of those two sides rank above Japan. In the three defeats that preceded their recent victory, the Argentinian women shipped a total of ten goals. Both South Korea and Australia showed that the defence of Japan’s South American opponents is an easy one to get at.

In addition to some rather damning recent results, Argentina have a shocking record against the top sides. Since late 2014, the Argentinian have played six games against sides that currently rank in the to ten. They’ve lost each of those six, conceding a total of 26 goals. They scored just one goal in those six games, while they also conceded at least three in each.

Unlike their opponents, Japan come into this fixture having done well against some very strong opposition of late. They drew against Spain last time out, while they held the second-best side in the world (Germany) to a 2-2 draw before that. Their efforts on that occasion suggest that they ought to have too much in the locker for Argentina.

What’s more, while the Argentines have struggled against the best teams in recent years, Japan have made light work of beating sides than rank below them. They scored three on route to beating Brazil, who’ve scored lots of goals against Argentina over the last few years, at the SheBelieves Cup in March, while they beat Norway by four goals to one shortly before that.

In the betting, ‘Japan -2 Handicap’ looks to be the only viable option, though this is by no means a game to get excited about, at least not from a betting point of view. Quite simply, the Japanese ought to have far too much quality for an Argentine side that has lost by at least three goals whenever they’ve come up against top-ten opposition in recent years. Not only do the visitors lack defensive quality, but they’ve also found it virtually impossible to score goals against the best sides.