FIFA Women’s World Cup
England vs USA Preview
- Date: Tuesday, July 2, 2019
- Time: 3:00 p.m. (est)
- Network: Telemundo/Fox Sport
- Location: Lyon, France
- Venue: Lyon Olympic Stadium
- Seating Capacity: 59,186
The U.S. Women’s National Team traveled to Lyon to face England after a spectacular 2-1 victory over host France in Paris last Friday, courtesy of two goals from Megan Rapinoe.
The two sides have met once in 2019 which ended in 2-2 draw in the SheBelieves Cup in Nashville, Tennessee.
The winner of this match will play the finals on Sunday, July 7 against the winner of Wednesday semifinals match between Netherlands and Sweden.
England comes to this game having won all three of their Group D matches. In the knockout stage, they overcame wins over Cameroon and Norway.
Meanwhile, the United States have had a more difficult path to the semifinals. Despite winning Group F, they faced Spain who was the darling of the tournament while also defeating the hosts France.
Though Alex Morgan is the captain with five goals in the group stage, Rapinoe has contributed with five goals of her own, four alone against Spain and France.
Team News
Phil Neville has opted to rotate his lineup with the exception of his two centerbacks and midfielder Jill Scott. With no injury news, he will probably have a very similar lineup against the US as he did against Norway.
For Jill Ellis, she has rotated minimal after reaching the knockout stage and has no major injuries either.
Lineups and Prediction (England vs USA Preview)
England XI: Bardsley; Bronze, Houghton, Bright, Stokes; Walsh, Parris, Scott; Kirby, Duggan, White
USA XI: Naeher; O’Hara, Dahlkemper, Sauerbrunn, Dunn; Lavelle, Ertz, Mewis, Heath; Morgan, Rapinoe
The defending World Cup champions are without a doubt the heavy favorites to win this game and to retain their crown. However, the Lionesses have gotten better as the tournament has folded under the guidance of Neville and will arguably put up a fight against the USA.
However, the Americans have had far harder challenges thus far and are very capable of continuing their streak going.
England 1 – 3 USA
Written by Edgar Gomez
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Photo credit to USWNT via Twitter
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