England vs Nigeria prediction, odds, betting tips and best bets for 2023 Women's World Cup Round of 16
Having completed a near-perfect group-stage showing, England now look towards more ambitious goals as they meet Nigeria in the Round of 16 at the 2023 Women's World Cup.
The Lionesses picked up the maximum nine points from group-stage play, and while the first two results came via tense 1-0 scorelines, they blasted China 6-1 to conclude the first phase of play, putting forth a truly dominant 270-minute resume upon which to build their title hopes.
Nigeria, meanwhile, secured a pair of scoreless draws to start and finish their group, sandwiched by the key result — a 3-2 victory over Australia on the Matildas' home turf. It was Nigeria's trademark attacking unit that secured the vital three points, but they also proved their defensive capabilities against Canada and Republic of Ireland.
This side of the bracket has fallen beautifully for England: of the seven other top-12 ranked nations remaining in the tournament, only France are in their half of the draw. If the Lionesses are going to make a deep run at a World Cup, now is the time to do it.
England are simply too strong for this Nigeria side. While it's a lot to ask the Lionesses to pour on the goals like they did against China, they should have enough to repeat similar performances from earlier in the group stage, where they ground out wins against Haiti and Denmark.
The victory over the latter was textbook and something to use as a model for how to approach this match. England grabbed an early goal six minutes in, and while they pushed for a second throughout, they killed time on the ball and didn't put themselves under needless pressure. All told, they escaped with a 1-0 win, out-passing Denmark 508-153, but producing just 13 shots and no "big chances".
Even if England
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