Kick-off: 1030, 22/07/2023
Stadium: Lang Park
TV: ITV
England are expected to enjoy an easy win in their opening Group D game at the Women’s World Cup when facing unfancied Haiti in Brisbane.
The Lionesses reached the semi-finals at the last two renewals of this tournament and will be looking to build on their memorable Euro 2022 triumph.
Their opponents are playing at this level for the first time and could hardly have been handed a tougher debut.
We’re taking 6/5 for the Lionesses to cover a four-goal start on the handicap list for our initial England Women vs Haiti Women prediction.
Euro champs hungry for goals
England will be concerned by a lack of goals in the build-up to this event, playing out 0-0 draws with Portugal and Canada in warm-up friendlies this month.
Those tight tussles followed April’s 2-0 loss to Australia in London but there is plenty of past evidence to suggest the Lionesses will take full advantage of now facing lesser foes.
They thrashed Luxembourg 10-0 in last September’s World Cup qualifier and battered Belgium 6-1 in the Arnold Clark Cup in February.
It is also worth remembering an amazing 8-0 demolition of Norway during the European Championship success.
The likes of Jill Scott and Ellen White hung up their boots following last summer’s famous triumph, while player of the tournament Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson are out injured, but this is a team still packed with experienced performers who have proven themselves for elite clubs and country.
Chloe Kelly, who grabbed the extra-time decider against Germany at Wembley, said: “I think there are so many leaders in this group with so much experience. Even the young players, as people would say, we have so much experience.
“I think being able to have so many players that have been to tournaments in the past is a great balance. The depth of our squad is amazing.”
Sarina Wiegman appears to favour starting with Rachel Daly up front before bringing Alessia Russo on as an impact striker.
Looking at the England Women vs Haiti Women odds, that makes 13/5 for the Aston Villa forward to open the scoring a solid option.
Les Grenadieres look in too deep
Haiti are managed by experienced Frenchman Nicolas Delepine, who has had spells in charge of Nantes, Montpellier, Guingamp and Grenoble in his native country.
Most of his players are based in France or the USA and the star is undoubtedly 19-year-old midfielder Melchie Dumornay, also known as Corventina.
Having impressed for Reims last season, she has been snapped up by eight-time Champions League winners Lyon and looks destined for great things.
Haiti finished third in their CONCACAF qualifying pool, beating Mexico 3-0 but losing by the same scoreline against USA and going down 4-0 to Jamaica.
Les Grenadieres then came through the inter-confederation play-offs in Auckland, easing past Senegal 4-0 before upsetting Chile 2-1.
Recent warm-up matches produced mixed results, with a 5-0 drubbing of Malta followed by a 2-1 loss to South Korea.
At 53 in the FIFA rankings, Haiti have it all to do against fourth-rated England, plus number 13 Denmark and 14 China.
Let’s add 29/20 for the Lionesses to get off to a flying start and lead after 15 minutes to our England Women vs Haiti Women betting tips, along with 29/10 for them to be 2-0 up at half-time.
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