Women’s World Cup Japan vs England: Lionesses Looking for Revenge

Women’s World Cup Japan vs England: Lionesses Looking for Revenge

Japan vs England

England are through to the Women’s World Cup knockout stage after squeaking past Argentina, 1-0. The Lionesses have now claimed two wins out of two matches and can secure top spot in Group D if they avoid defeat in their final match against Japan.

The Japanese are currently in second place with four points. They would join England in the next round in the event of a draw and would leapfrog the Lionesses for top spot if they win.

These two sides met in the semi-finals of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, which Japan won in dramatic fashion.

England will be eager to avoid a repeat of that result as they finally look to live up to their status as one of the tournament’s top contenders, according to the Women’s World Cup 2019 odds.

Talking Points

Lionesses grinding out results

Despite their Women’s World Cup 2019 reading two wins out of two, Group D hasn’t been quite as easy as expected for England.

They didn’t entirely convince in their 2-1 win against British rivals Scotland in their opening match. And against Argentina, they were again unable to roar as they just eked out a 1-0 win.

To be fair, the Lionesses were up against a goalkeeper in inspired form in Vanina Correa, who made an excellent save on Nikita Parris’ early penalty.

Luckily, Jodie Taylor was on hand to supply the winning goal. It was the first goal in 14 months for Taylor, who was the top scorer in Euro 2017 with five goals.

Taylor hasn’t fared as well in manager Phil Neville’s new playing style, which is more possession-based as opposed to former coach Mark Sampson’s counterattacking game. But if their first two matches are anything to go by, it seems that the entire England team still hasn’t clicked into gear.

Their matchup against Japan will easily be the toughest of the group and will more accurately gauge their progress under Neville.

While England have secured qualification, lack of motivation is unlikely to be a problem for them. Apart from securing top spot in the group, they will also have payback on their minds after their painful defeat to Japan in the semi-finals of the last World Cup.

Star right-back Lucy Bronze, in particular, will be ready to make up for that semi-final defeat after she had to come off due to illness.

Japan not yet in top gear

Like England, Japan have not looked all that convincing in their first two matches in the tournament. They were similarly frustrated by Argentina and held to a goalless draw in their opening match.

And while they picked up a much-needed 2-1 win against Scotland, they once again didn’t play quite like back-to-back Women’s World Cup finalists.

The penalty Japan received for their second goal was somewhat harsh, while the Scots also hit the post through Erin Cuthbert.

But for the first time in the tournament, Japan will face an opponent that will actually look to play football with them as opposed to merely sitting deep in defence. That may just suit the Japanese, who are technically sound and capable of capitalising if they are allowed more space with which to work.

Japan coach Asako Takakura believes that her young team is capable of playing much better. And with the quality that England have at their disposal, the Japanese will need to significantly up their game to ensure qualification to the knockout round.

History

Japan and England have met a total of three times in the Women’s World Cup. Their first meeting was in 2007, which was a 2-2 draw. England then scored a win in the group stage in 2011.

And there was Japan’s dramatic win in the 2015 semi-final, which came after a Laura Bassett own-goal well into stoppage time.

England were able to get some semblance of revenge recently as they thrashed Japan 3-0 at the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year.

But clearly, the Women’s World Cup is the much bigger stage, and beating Japan here would be much sweeter.

Betting Tip

Draw 1X2 @ 3.15

There’s a strong case to be made that this match will end in a draw, which SBOBET odds have priced at 3.15. For one, neither team has played overwhelmingly well thus far in the tournament and may not handle the step up in competition too well.

Moreover, both teams know that a draw is a mutually beneficial result, which could cause them to not give it their full effort for this match.

Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

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