Canada Women v Australia Women

Canada Women vs Australia Women Preview

The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium provides the venue for what is potentially a ‘winner takes all' clash between second-placed Canada and their third-placed co-hosts, Australia, when the two teams meet in Melbourne in Monday night's Group B encounter.

Canada sit in a strong position in the group having picked up four points from their opening two games of the group stage in this tournament to date, by way of a 0-0 draw with Nigeria which was followed up with a 2-1 win against Republic of Ireland, leaving Bev Priestman's side just a draw away from qualifying for the knockout rounds.

However, Canada will be wary of pursuing the tactic of holding out for a draw against the co-hosts, Australia, especially as recent results have been questionable at best, having managed to capture just two wins out of their last seven matches overall in all competitions.

A creditable 2-0 victory over Brazil has been outweighed by defeats to Brazil, USA, Japan and France but the goals market is worth exploring as six of Canada's last 10 matches have resulted in Over 2.5 goals.

With just three points to their name from their opening two games in Group B, Australia now have a very clear picture of what is required as they head into this Matchday 3 clash with Canada at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium as Tony Gustavsson's side know that anything less than a win here will send The Matildas crashing out of this World Cup.

One of the co-hosts have already been eliminated as New Zealand failed to beat Switzerland in their final group match, so there is danger (and pressure) that Australia follow suit here and the tournament would be something of an embarrassment if both nations failed to progress out of the group stage.

We can therefore expect a fired-up Aussie outfit to take to the field on Monday night especially after falling to an unexpected 3-2 defeat to Nigeria last time out as The Matildas failed to build upon their opening 1-0 win against Republic of Ireland.

Goals could figure also though where Australia are concerned as five of their last 10 matches overall have produced three goals or more and the hosts need to press forward in order to pick up the all-important three points in this fixture.

Canada W v Australia W Verdict Canada have produced an impressive World Cup campaign so far but they arguably face their biggest test on Monday night against an Australia side hell-bent on qualifying for the knockout rounds, backed by a partisan crowd in Melbourne.

This is expected to be an entertaining game with perhaps Australia ultimately coming out on top.

Therefore, our main bet will be Over 2.5 goals @ 2.15

Other side bets worth considering:

Australia win @ 2.15

Correct score: Australia 2-1 @ 9.50