Nigeria Women vs France Women Predictions

Things didn’t exactly go well for Nigeria first time out, as they were defeated by Norway, though they didn’t let their opening loss get to them. On match-day two, Thomas Dennerby’s women bounced back, beating South Korea by two goals to nil. After their confidence-boosting win, the Nigerians will be looking to upset the tournament hosts, who’re already through to the next round.

Even though the score-line suggested that they took a battering, Nigeria offered several moments of promise against Norway on match-day one, so it wasn’t at all surprising that they upset South Korea last time out. Defensively, they continued to look slightly shaky, though they were effective on the break. With someone like the speedy and direct Asisat Oshoala, who notched her first goal of the tournament last time out, in their front-line, the Nigerians are always going to offer a threat going forward.

Like Nigeria, France also won last time out, as they beat the Norwegians by two goals to one. As was the case on match-day one, the French outclassed their opponents; they offered a good amount going forward, creating 2.08 expected goals for, while they gave little away, surrendering only 0.42 expected goals. Frankly, had the usually reliable Wendie Renard not diverted a cross into her own goal, then Norway wouldn’t have got on the score-sheet, so all round it was another relatively comfortable win for the tournament hosts.

As far as betting on this fixture goes, there’s not too much to get excited about at the current prices. The efforts of both the hosts and Nigeria point towards a third straight victory for Corinne Diacre’s women, though backing France to come out on top represents no value. One bet that does make some appeal is ‘France to Win & Under 2.5 Goals’.

The French have held both Norway and South Korea at bay with relative ease, so they should be capable of limiting the Nigerians, though they didn’t exactly fire on all cylinders in the final third last time out, despite scoring twice. Add in the fact that Nigeria have only surrendered an average of 1.16 expected goals and backing the French to record a low-key win on route to the next round doesn’t appear to be the worst idea.