Portugal and Vietnam face off with their knock-out round hopes on the line in Group E. It is time to continue our Women's World Cup odds series with a Portugal-Vietnam prediction, pick, and how to watch.
Portugal comes in after losing their first match of the World Cup to the Netherlands. Portgual was down early, after blocking a kick by Lineth Beerensteyn Portugal conceded the corner kick. After a solid corner and then a cross by Sherida Spitse, Stefanie van der Gragt scored in the 13th minute. Portugal has scored in 17 of their last 18 matches heading into this game but was held without a goal. Portugal did have an opportunity to get their goal. In the 82nd minute, Telma Encarnacao took a shot from the right side of the box, but a beautiful save was made to keep Portugal off the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, Vietnam not only did not score a goal they did not even get a shot out. They were heavily out-possessed by the USA team, having only 34 percent possession in the game. Vietnam chose to play back and attempt to limit the United State chances, hoping to get a counter opportunity. The opportunity never came to fruition though, but they did hold the United States team to just three goals when the expectation was closer to six. Vietnam has not scored in their last three fixtures and needs to figure out how to get a goal in this one.
It is a dire situation for both teams. The losing team will all but be eliminated. They would need to win their last game and hope for a three-way tie and advance on goal differential.
Here are the FIFA Women's World Cup Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
FIFA Women's World Cup Odds: Portugal-Vietnam Odds
Portugal: -1300
Vietnam: +3700
Draw: +900
Over 2.5 Goals: -215
Under 2.5 Goals: +164
How To Watch Portugal vs. Vietnam
TV: FS1
Stream: Fox Sports App
Time: 3:30 AM ET/ 12:30 AM PT
*Watch FIFA Women's World Cup LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Portugal Will Beat Vietnam
For Portugal to win it has to start with Diana Silva. Silva has scored 20 goals in 94 matches for the Portugal National team. In the last game, she was quiet in the first half of the game. She did not make any major moves upfield or have any major chances to score. Her only action in the first half was a foul in the 36th minute. Early in the second half she was injured but was able to continue after a short delay. Silva did have a nice through ball in the 51st minute, but Jessica Silva was offsides. She ended up being subbed off in the 79th minute.
Carolina Mendes will also need to make some offensive movement in this one. Mendes has scored 23 games in 114 fixtures for the Portugal National team. Mendes was left on the bench in the first match-up, but that could change in this one. With her ability to score, Portugal needs to make a move to get her on the field. It could be a spark late in the game, but it must happen for Portugal to get some offensive movement.
The other thing Portugal needs to do is to limit the fouls. In their game with the Netherlands, they committed 14 fouls. They also had two yellow cards in the game. Multiple times early in the game, offensive chances and movement toward the box were stifled by fouls, allowing the Netherlands to get free kicks in the defensive half of the field. If they can limit those fouls that stifled their offense, Portugal will score. Ultimately, do not need many goals to win, so every opportunity could be the one to win the game.
Why Vietnam Will Beat Portugal
Vietnam is competing in its first-ever World Cup, and its first performance was better than expected. The USA was expected to score six goals in that game, and Vietnam held them to three. Hoang Thi Loan is the defensive leader. Loan did commit the foul that led to the penalty kick, but she also slowed down Morgan multiple times and was a reason the USA squad failed on so many opportunities. Still, while being a technically sound defender, she did not control the tempo of the game as she has in other games. Loan is happy to hold the ball and play a possession game, but that did not happen in their last match, as the aggressive forwards for the US did not allow it.
Meanwhile, Vietnam would like to see Tran Thi Kim Thanh have another amazing performance. She had five saves in the game including a great one against Alex Morgan on a penalty kick. She kept Vietnam in the game with her impressive saves. This is nothing new for her overall. In her last fixture against New Zealand, she had ten saves and then had six against Germany.
Vietnam also needs some offense. That starts with Huynh Nhu. Nhu is the all-time leading scorer for the Vietnam Women's Soccer team with 71 goals in international play. She is the first ever player for Vietnam to play outside of Asia, playing in Liga BPI. Alongside, her is Pham Hai Yen. In the 2011 AFF Women's Championship, she scored her first career hat trick, scoring three goals in the game over Indonesia. Since then she has scored plenty of more hat tricks and won multiple titles. She was part of a team that won that AFF Championship, plus won a Simple Cup and the SEA games.
Final Portugal-Vietnam Prediction & Pick
Portugal is the far better team in this match. They are heavily favored and should win this game. They will also want to score plenty of goals to help with goal differential if that is needed. Still, Vietnam has a quality defense. Taking a parlay of Portugal to win and under 3.5 goals is a solid play here. That would sit at -121 and should be worth the bet. In the same vein, Portugal to win the first half and under 3.5 goals for the game sits at +162. If Portugal can score early, this should hit as well. Overall though, Portugal is the pick over Vietnam, with a prediction of a 2-0 score.
Final Portugal-Vietnam Prediction & Pick: Portugal (-1300) and Under 2.5 (+164)
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