Nigeria Women vs South Korea Women Predictions

It wasn’t exactly the ideal start in France for Nigeria, as they lost to Norway, while much of the same can be said for South Korea, who failed to leave their mark on the game against tournament hosts France. After tasting defeat at the first time of asking, both teams will be hoping to do better on match-day two.

Nigeria did come unstuck on match-day one, as they lost by three goals to nil against a very useful Norwegian side, though they certainly got more competitive than South Korea did against the tournament hosts. In fact, Thomas Dennerby’s women were unlucky to lose by three goals to nil, or at least that’s what an expected goal difference of only -0.56 suggests. They weren’t great at the back, though they limited the Norwegians to fewer opportunities than many people would’ve thought, while they also had their moments going forward.

If they can maintain the appetite to break forward quickly but add in a little more composure, then there’s no reason as to why the Nigerians cannot get off the mark in front of goal against South Korea on Wednesday. After all, they had scored in four of their last five, notching against the likes of Canada, Slovakia and Austria, prior to their game in Reims.

While Nigeria offered some sort of attacking threat against the Norwegians, South Korea failed to get involved offensively against the French. They had just four shots, none of which hit the target, while the fact that they clocked only 0.06 expected goals for says it all.

They will be expected to do better against lesser opposition, though South Korea’s attacking inefficiencies weren’t only exposed against the French. Before the tournament began, they failed to find the net against Sweden, while they only netted once against Iceland prior to that, which doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

From a betting point of view, it’s not difficult to oppose the Asian outfit. Facing Norway first time out may have been slightly less daunting than taking on the French, though it was Nigeria that created the more positive impression in defeat, so much so that they deserve to be slightly shorter ahead of this encounter. Therefore, backing ‘Nigeria Draw No Bet’ offers punters some value.

Another option ahead of this match is ‘Asisat Oshoala to Score Anytime’. Adept at operating as either a striker or a winger, Nigeria’s number eight failed to find the net against Norway, though her pace and ability to get in behind caught the eye. Against a South Korean back-line that looked timid at best against France, Oshoala is unlikely to be without opportunities and at what appears to be a generous price, she’s worth backing to take one.