Sweden Women vs Canada Women Predictions

Sweden were never likely to top a group that contained the mighty USA, though they’ll be happy to have won two out of three on route to the knockouts, while they weren’t exactly disgraced when losing by two goals to nil against the best team in the world last time out.

It’s hard to get too excited about what Sweden did to either Thailand or Chile. Yes, they were good on both occasions, as they dominated throughout, offering plenty going forward, scoring seven goals and posting a combined total of 7.12 expected goals for, though they were up against very, very weak opponents.

Given that they had the luxury of facing poor teams in each of their first two matches in France, it was always going to be tough for the Swedes to rise to the occasion against USA, though Peter Gerhardsson’s women did surprisingly well on match-day three. Against what was essentially USA’ best line-up, Sweden were very much in the game, despite eventually losing. Not many teams come away with an expected goal difference of only -0.80 against Jill Ellis’ women, while not many forge the sort of scoring opportunities that the Swedes did in Paris.

As for Canada, well, Kenneth Heiner-Moller’s women have looked reasonably sturdy at this World Cup, though their efforts certainly haven’t been glamorous. First time out, they kept things tight before scoring from a set piece against Cameroon, while they delivered a dominant performance to overpower a sluggish New Zealand side on match-day two.

However, despite offering promise in each of their first two matches, the Canadians came unstuck when facing useful opposition on match-day three, as they lost 2-1 against Holland, who not only exposed Canada’s lack of offensive quality, but who showed that Heiner-Moller’s women aren’t that hard to break down after all.

Last time out, Canada failed to get overly serious in the final third, as they clocked just two shots on target and posted only 0.78 expected goals for. Netherlands created 1.64. With someone like Christine Sinclair in the forward line, Canada do carry a threat, especially from crosses and set pieces, though their overall lack of creativity is a worry ahead of a game against a Swedish side that has looked useful in that respect.

Frankly, based on their efforts over the last few weeks, Sweden look somewhat overpriced, so a bet on Kenneth Heiner-Moller’s women to get the job done offers punters some value. After an encouraging effort against the best team in the world, the Swedes are backed to overcome a Canadian outfit that struggled to get going against the Dutch, who sit just a single place above Sweden in the rankings.