USA Women vs Japan Women Olympics prediction: Emma Hayes’ joint-favourites continue gold push
The quarter-finals of the 2024 Olympics women’s football tournament gets underway as USA Women take on Japan Women on Saturday.
USA Women vs Japan Women prediction: Emma Hayes’ joint-favourites continue gold push
USA Women vs Japan Women latest prediction
Betting tips
USA Women 2-1 Japan Women (15/2 with Bet365)
USA Women have won 31 of their 40 meetings with Japan Women, including a 2-1 win in the SheBelieves Cup earlier this year.
Mallory Swanson to score anytime (6/5 with 10bet)
Mallory Swanson has been trusted to lead the line for USA Women, though she played on the wing last time out. When she has played as the centre forward, however, Swanson has three goals at the 2024 Olympics, more than any other USA Women player.
1st Half over 1.5 goals (11/8 with Sky Bet)
USA Women have been putting their opponents to the sword early on at the 2024 Olympics. Emma Hayes’ side have scored seven of their nine goals at this tournament before half time.
USA Women take on Japan Women at 2pm on Saturday 3rd August, with the game being played at the Parc des Princes in Paris.
USA Women are the most successful nation in the history of women’s Olympic football, taking gold in four of the seven tournaments so far. But they haven’t tasted gold since 2012 and had to settle for bronze in Tokyo. The Emma Hayes era is going well for USA Women, though, and they are joint-favourites to win gold going into the quarter-finals. The four-time gold medallists went perfect in the group stage, winning all three of their matches. They opened with a 3-0 win over Zambia before putting a statement out in beating Germany 4.1 The group came to a close with a 2-1 win against Australia.
Japan Women have won the World Cup once, beating USA Women on penalties in the 2011 final. However, one year later they were beaten by USA Women in the Olympics final. That silver medal is the only one Japan Women have won at the Olympics, only making the final four on one other occasion when they finished fourth in 2008. Japan Women opened their 2024 Olympics with a 2-1 defeat to Spain, who got their own back following a 4-0 defeat at the Women’s World Cup last year. Things were looking bad in the second game against Brazil Women, but two injury-time goals saw Japan Women steal a 2-1 win. And second place was secured with a 3-1 win over Nigeria.
USA Women team news
Emma Hayes has only made one change to her starting XI at the 2024 Olympics, which is a big deal as it took her 28 games to go unchanged in her first season at Chelsea. Emily Sonnett started the tournament opener but has been replaced by Tierna Davidson at centre-back since.
Rose Lavelle’s role has changed, however, being pushed further forward against Zambia. But she may drop deeper again given the fact that Sam Coffey is suspended after picking up her second yellow card of the tournament last time out. Korbin Albert may replace Coffey. Mallory Swanson has also taken the spot as centre forward, with Sophia Smith pushed to the wing.
Japan Women team news
Japan Women’s starting lineup is a bit tougher to predict as Futoshi Ikeda has made minor alterations every game. Chelsea Women’s Maika Hamano has played her way into the starting XI and she scored the opening goal in Japan Women’s 3-1 win over Nigeria Women. The 20-year-old played in a more central midfield position last time, but has freedom to get forward.
All eyes will be on star midfielder Yui Hasegawa, who has become one of the best in the world in her position.
USA Women vs Japan Women head-to-head
Two women’s football giants, USA Women and Japan Women have faced off 40 times — the Asian nation’s second-most played fixture after China Women. But Japan Women have managed just one victory in 40, with eight draws and 31 USA Women wins. One of those draws did end in Japan Women lifting the 2011 Women’s World Cup on penalties, mind you.
| USA Women vs Japan Women H2H | |||||||
| Date | Score | Ground | |||||
| 06/04/24 | USA Women 2-1 Japan Women | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Georgia | |||||
| 19/02/23 | USA Women 1-0 Japan Women | Geodis Park, Nashville | |||||
| 11/03/20 | USA Women 3-1 Japan Women | Toyota Stadium, Frisco | |||||
| 27/02/19 | USA Women 2-2 Japan Women | Talen Energy Stadium, Chester | |||||
| 26/07/18 | USA Women 4-2 Japan Women | Children’s Mercy, Kansas City | |||||
| 03/08/17 | USA Women 3-0 Japan Women | StubHub Center, Carson | |||||
How to watch USA Women vs Japan Women live
USA Women vs Japan Women is scheduled for 2pm on Saturday 3rd August and will be broadcast live on Eurosport 5 and Discovery+.
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