Eden Park, Auckland will be the venue when Switzerland take on Spain in the first Round of 16 of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on Saturday.
Although Switzerland topped Group A to qualify for the knockouts, their campaign has not been outstanding. They won their first game against the Philippines 2-0 and drew goalless against Norway and New Zealand to claim top spot with five points.
Spain, meanwhile, finished second in Group C, behind high-flying Japan – the only team they lost to in the group stage. La Roja opened their campaign with a 3-0 win against Costa Rica before crushing Zambia 5-0. They crumble to a 4-0 defeat against Japan in their final group game. Many analyst believd the Spanish on purpose lost the game to Japan to avoid Norway who would’ve been a tougher opponent for the them in the round 16 having seen Switzerland finsihed top of group A.
The two teams have met three times, with Spain winning twice and losing once. Switzerland have scored six goals against Spain and conceded eight. Switzerland have won once and drawn four times in their last five games, while Spain have won four times and lost once in the same period.
While Bookmakers believe this will be an easy win for La Roja, our in-house analyst have an entirely different oppinion regarding the game. A win for the Spanish they predicted as well, but not going to be an easy one going by the defensive doggedness the Swizz have shown so far in this competiton.
Four likely outcomes have been predicted for this game by analysts, one which bettors can rely upon as we kick-start the second round fixtures.
PREDICTIONS:
- Under 2.5 goals