The reigning women’s European champions are back in action on Friday, as England take on Japan. The Lionesses will look to continue their momentum ahead of next year’s World Cup, while Japan will be looking to spring a shock victory.
Women’s International Preview
It has been a famous year for women’s football in England, and the Lionesses will be looking to end their year on a high ahead of the World Cup next year. England will play twice before the end of the year, beginning with a home fixture against Japan on Friday night. England has been in excellent form throughout the year, having landed a first major success in their home Euros over the summer.
Since then, England has won three of the four fixtures that they have played, which includes a famous victory over the United States at Wembley at the start of last month. However, they will need to bounce back to winning ways, as they were held to a shock draw in their previous fixture. On that occasion, England couldn’t find a way through against the Czech Republic, as they played out a 0-0 draw at Falmer Stadium.
This won’t be an easy challenge for England this weekend, as Japan were winners of the World Cup back in 2011. They also finished as runners-up in 2015, and reached the round of 16 in 2019. Japan comes into this fixture in solid form as they have won four of their previous five matches.
Their latest win was recorded against New Zealand last month. That was a very strong performance by the Japanese, with Hinata Miyazawa and Riko Ueki scoring the goals in the victory.
England vs Japan Head to Head
There have been seven previous meetings between Japan and England, with the Lionesses having won on four occasions. The most recent meeting between the sides came in 2020, with England running out 1-0 winners in an international friendly.
England vs Japan Prediction
This should be an entertaining game between two very talented sides in the women’s game. However, we expect England to put their recent disappointment against the Czech Republic behind them and get back to winning ways. We could see the Lionesses winning 2-0 at the Pinatar Arena Football Center.
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