Canada Women vs New Zealand Women Predictions

It wasn’t easy; they expended a lot of energy for little forward reward, but the Canadians got the job done against a spirited Cameroon side on match-day one. Having come out on top first time out, Canada will be looking for a second win, while New Zealand will be hoping to bounce back after they agonisingly lost in stoppage time against the Dutch.

For all they got the job done against Cameroon, Canada didn’t create the best impression first time out. They dominated the game, while they came under little pressure defensively, though against a far lesser side, Kenneth Heiner-Moller’s men failed to assert themselves. They weren’t exactly shot shy, though they only hit the target four times, while clear-cuts opportunities were few and far between. Frankly, an expected goals for total of 1.07 was somewhat underwhelming.

As England found out just before the tournament began, New Zealand are tough to face, so the Canadians will have to improve if they’re to maintain their 100% record in France.

New Zealand were deservedly beaten on match-day one, though their performance wasn’t totally devoid of promise. Against a much stronger side than Cameroon, as we’re likely to see on Saturday, Tom Sermanni’s women created about the same as Canada did without being on the front foot, while they also showed good defensive resistance at times. The rankings may suggest otherwise, though if the opening efforts by those in Group E are anything to go by, then it’s not difficult to feel that Netherlands are a better side than Canada, so it’s not tough to see New Zealand doing well second time out.

At the end of the day, Canada are ranked in the top five for a reason; they’re very tough to beat, though their lack of end-product, namely goals, is becoming an issue. The Canadians have scored more than once in just two of their last nine. What’s more, New Zealand showed before the World Cup that they’re not easy to face when beating both England and Norway by a goal to nil. Given that Canada recently managed 1-0 wins against that pair too, there’s probably less of a disparity in quality than the current prices suggest.

From a betting point of view, after an underwhelming first showing, Canada look too short. Similarly, there appears to be some juice in New Zealand’s price, so a punt on ‘New Zealand +1 Handicap’ is the way to go.