After a disappointing start to their 2024 Paris Olympics campaign, Australia’s Matildas are back in action on Monday morning (3am AEST) when they take on Zambia. The Matildas are the very heavy favourites to win in what’s a crucial fixture for both teams and their chances of progressing out of the group stage. We bring you our preview and best bet below!
2024 Paris Olympic Games – Women’s Soccer
Matildas vs Zambia (Monday 3am AEST)
It was a nightmare start to the Olympics for the Matildas who were thoroughly outplayed against one of the tournament fancies in Germany. The Germans dominated play for most of the 90 minutes and were more than deserving of their 3-0 win.
The Germans came in with a gameplan to expose Australia’s fullbacks and that’s exactly what happened as young star Jule Brand caused havoc all game with her run on the wing.
Group B is labelled the ‘group of death’ for a reason and with the #1 ranked nation in the USA to come next for the Aussies, getting a positive result on Monday morning is of astronomical importance.
Meanwhile, Zambia also suffered a 3-0 defeat in their opening game in Paris. They certainly drew the short straw drawing the likes of Australia, USA, and Germany in their group, but have shown the capabilities to match it with the powerhouse nations in recent years.
First up Zambia took on the tournament favourites in the USA and it looked like it could be one of the great demolition jobs by the Americans when they led 3-0 after just 25 minutes, however, goals dried up after that stage despite Zambia also receiving a red card in the 30th minute.
Despite the lack of opportunity for the Zambia attackers in their opening hitout, the threat of star striker Barbra Banda was still on display. The pacy striker is arguably the form striker in the world right now and will be the one to watch on Monday morning
Match Prediction: There is absolutely no history to lean on in this matchup as it’s the first ever time Australia and Zambia will matchup. Regardless, the Matildas are priced as the very short favourites due to their much higher rank (12 vs 64) coupled with superior results at major tournaments.
However, I believe there’s some decent value in the both teams to score market here. Banda’s extreme pace will cause all sorts of issues for the Matildas defence which certainly isn’t the quickest, while they will of course cause some issues of their own going the other way. There should be plenty of goals in this one.
Both Teams to Score
$1.91 (2 Units)
