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It has been a difficult Olympic campaign for the Australians this summer but they do have a chance of pushing through to the quarter-finals - albeit a tough ask to hope for a top two spot as they face one of the pre-tournament favourites in the United States.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Wednesday 31st July, 2024, UK – 6:00pm / US ET – 1:00pm / US PT – 10:00am
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ON TV: UK – BBC is the main broadcaster while some event will be televised on Eurosport / US – NBC is the main broadcaster while some events will be shown on NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
HOW TO WATCH THE PARIS OLYMPICS ONLINE: UK – BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website & Eurosport Player / US – Events can be streamed on the relevant streaming platforms of NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network and Telemundo
AUSTRALIA PREVIEW: UNDERWHELMING AUSSIES
Australia finished fourth at the last Olympics and then fourth again at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup so they came into Paris 2024 as a real medal hope even without their star player and talismanic figure of Sam Kerr due to injury.
However, they were hammered in their opening game at the Stade Velodrome against Germany, suffering a 3-0 loss to the Germans in which they were stung on the counter before a thrilling 6-5 defeat of Zambia that perhaps left more questions unanswered.
USA PREVIEW: EMMA HAYES’ NEW LOOK USWNT
Under the management of former Chelsea coach Emma Hayes, the United States have cruised through to the quarter-finals of the 2024 Summer Olympics with back-to-back three-goal victories in very different ways.
Their opener against Zambia saw them race into a 3-0 lead before the opposition went down to ten and then they took the foot off the pedal before then hammering what appeared a strong looking German side in arguably the USWNT’s best performance in a few years.
AUSTRALIA VS USA PREDICTION
There is a chance Australia will progress with just three points as one of the ‘lucky losers’ but their goal difference remains quite poor at -2, ready to get worse with a defeat. That may well mean the Australians set up quite defensively to limit the Americans and their star studded squad being well coached by Hayes. The US can rotate with no consequences, too, so it may not be a thriller for the neutral.
AUSTRALIA VS USA TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS