Australia v England Prediction, Preview & Odds – WWC Semi-Final
We have an Australia v England prediction plus betting odds for you as we preview the second of this year’s Women’s World Cup semi-finals.
Australia v England Match Info
Venue: Sydney Football Stadium, Australia
When? 11.00 am, Wednesday the 16th of August
What Channel? BBC 1 and RTÉ 2
Australia v England Betting Odds
The oddsmakers make Australia 11/5 underdogs, England are 5/4 favourites while the draw is 2/1.
Australia can be backed at 23/20 to qualify for the final while England can be gotten at odds of 8/13.
The Form – Australia vs England
Australia’s Form
World Number 10 Australia qualified for their eighth-ever appearance at a World Cup as co-hosts with New Zealand. In the lead-up to the tournament Australia were in excellent form for 2023 with five victories and just one defeat which game 0-1 against Scotland. The highlight of that period was their 2023 Cup of Nations victory.
Tony Gustavsson has been the Australian head coach since being appointed in September 2020 following 20 years of experience including as assistant for the US Women. Gustavvson has already brought the nation to their best-ever World Cup finish with the previous best being a Quarter-Final appearances in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
Australia’s World Cup journey started shakily, it was only a 52nd-minute Steph Catley penalty that got them past Ireland in their opener. That was followed up by a 2-3 defeat against Nigeria. However, Australia saved their World Cup campaign with a comprehensive 4-0 victory against Canada in their final group game.
In the Round of 16, they had a routine 2-0 victory over in Denmark, to earn a Quarter-Final place against a widely fancied France. In this Quarter-Final they narrowly escaped elimination again following a 0-0 AET draw, they would beat France 7-6 on penalties.
England’s Form
England are ranked 4th in the world and entered the tournament in mediocre form for their standards with three wins, three draws (after the draw with Brazil, they beat them on penalties) and one defeat against Australia 0-2. Most notably, they were scoreless in their last three games coming into the tournament. They qualified for the World Cup via a perfect record in UEFA Group D, winning ten from ten matches, scoring eighty goals and conceding none.
Sarina Wiegman has held the position of England head coach since September 2021, following 15 years of experience, most notably with the Netherlands. Sarina has already become the most successful England Women’s coach with the highlight being their recent Euro 2022 success.
England had a slow start to the tournament with 1-0 victories over Haiti and Denmark. However, they came alive in their final group stage came hammering China 6-1 and announcing themselves as worthy tournament favourites.
In the Round of 16, they were very fortunate to overcome Nigeria 4-2 on penalties following a 0-0 result AET. The winning penalty was scored emphatically by Chloe Kelly (who could have played for Ireland).
Chloe Kelly’s rocket pen for England hit 111km/h
Phenomenal, the most powerful EPL penalty last season was only 107.2km/h from Benrahma vs Palace
Did I mention she’s another who could’ve played for Ireland?👀
Grandfathers from Omagh + Dublin!☘️
— Irish Football Blog (@BlogIrish) August 8, 2023
In their Quarter-Final against Colombia, they had a narrow 2-1 victory (as we accurately predicted) to earn their place in the semi-finals
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Australia v England Preview
Australia Tactics
Australia have consistently set themselves up in a 4-4-2 formation throughout their five World Cup matches so far. Their possession stats are interesting, despite dominating the ball against Ireland at 63% and Nigeria at 64%.
Whether by design, because the quality of opposition, or style of play, they have had less possession in their 4-0 win against Canada (only 39% of the ball) that mark was 44% against Denmark and 50% against France. I’d expect them to again have less of the ball against England while they focus on a counter-attacking style.
One of the crucial components of this Australian side has been the consistency in their selection throughout the tournament.
Against England, you can expect a back-five of GK: Arnold, RB: Carpenter, CB: Hunt, CB: Kennedy and LB: Catley who have started in all five of Australia’s games so far in the tournament.
In midfield RM: Raso, CM: Gorry, CM: Cooney-Cross have also all started their five games and will continue to do so against England. Since the Canada game, Foord has come in for Vine in the LM position and you would expect that to continue.
Up-front you will likely see Van Egmond partner former Irish eligible footballer Mary Fowler up front.
England’s Tactics
England came into their current formation with Head Coach Sarina Wiegman transitioning the team from the 3-4-1-2 formation that they used following their Euro 2022 success (which was a 4-2-3-1 formation). They used that for their opening victories 1-0 against Haiti and Denmark which they would’ve been disappointed with their performances in.
They first used the 3-4-1-2 formation against China where they announced themselves as genuine World Cup contenders beating the notoriously tough-to-beat Chinese side 1-6. England’s player of the tournament so far Lauren James was the star performer in the (10) position scoring two goals and providing three assists.
However against Nigeria, they played the same formation but despite having 56% of possession they can feel disappointed with their attacking display having only 12 shots to Nigeria’s 20 alongside a red-card for Lauren James in the 87th minute, England got out of jail and won on penalties 4-2.
In their 2-1 Quarter-Final victory over Colombia, they had 61% of the ball but still only had ten shots to Colombia’s fifteen. Despite this, goals from Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo proved to be enough to get them the victory.
Against Australia, I’d suspect them to have a large amount of the ball again, but they will want to be more creative in attack.
The English side will likely set up in a 3-4-1-2 with Earps in goals supported by Carter, Bright, and Greenwood.
In midfield, Bronze will be on the right and Stanway will continue. I thought Walsh would miss out on the last match through injury, but she recovered so she will partner Stanway in midfield and Daly will likely stay on the left.
In the AM position, I thought Beth England would get the shout last game, but it was Toone further up the field than I suspected. I suspect that will continue in-behind a front-two of Russo and Hemp who scored against Colombia.
Australia v England Head-to-Head Results
Women’s Friendlies – England 0-2 Australia – April 11th, 2023
Women’s Friendlies – England 1-1 Australia – October 9th, 2018
Australia vs England Prediction & Best Bet
Prediction: Australia 1-3 England
This will be an interesting match-up pitting tournament co-hosts Australia against one of the pre-tournament favourites England. Both sides have flattered to deceive at times while playing some excellent football on other occasions. The inconsistency could be down to mental fragility in either side but also the improving standard of women’s football overall.
I think this game will be initially quite close before England pull away late in the game as Australia look for an equaliser.
Best Bet: England Women Win & Both Teams To Score @ 5/1
Our World Cup outright post can be found here.
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*Prices Subject To Fluctuation
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