Canada Women v Ireland Women

Canada Women v Rep of Ireland Women Preview

Onto Group B and Canada will take on Republic of Ireland in Perth on Wednesday night at the Perth Rectangular Stadium with both teams keen to boost their knockout ambitions with a win here with just one points separating the two nations prior to this Matchday 2 clash.

Canada were held to a 0-0 draw by Nigeria in their opening group match but Bev Priestman's side will be keen to go one step better this time in order to give themselves a good chance of joining the expected favourites, Australia, out of this group and into the round of last 16 with all three points in this tussle.

However, this may be easier said than done as Canada have experienced something of a downturn in results of late, winning just once in their previous six matches in all competitions which came in the form of a 2-0 win against Brazil but they have also slumped to four defeats within this period as well.

Defeats to Brazil, USA, Japan and France have seen Canada lose to quality opposition but they may well feel the benefit of those losses when they take on Republic of Ireland on Wednesday night.

Republic of Ireland lost to Australia in their opening game in Group B as many people anticipated but the margin of victory was a lot tighter than many imagined with only one goal separating the two sides in what resulted in a narrow 1-0 win for The Matildas.

Like Canada, the Irish have also found positive results hard to come by in recent times as they have an almost identical run of results of late, winning just once in their last six matches and losing four of these games as well.

A 3-2 win against Zambia has been their only highlight in recent times but losses to USA (twice), France and Australia have seen Republic of Ireland suffer defeats against quality opposition.

Interestingly, four of Ireland's last six games have also resulted in Under 2.5 goals being scored but perhaps even more worrying for Vera Pauw's side is the fact that they have failed to hit the back of the net in no fewer than five of these last six games as well.

Canada W v Rep of Ireland W Verdict

These two nations have only met just once before back in 2014 in the Cyprus Cup which Canada won 2-1 but this upcoming encounter in Group B looks like being a tight and low-scoring affair with so much at stake for both sides.

Canada may just sneak a narrow 1-0 win here though to boost their knockout credentials.

Therefore, our main bet will be Canada win @ 1.61

Other side bets worth considering:

Canada win & Under 2.5 goals @ 3.00

Correct score: Canada 1-0 @ 5.00