England v Denmark: Low-scoring contest on cards in Sydney

England Women v Denmark Women betting tips and odds

England head into the second Group D game of the Women’s World Cup hoping to improve on a disappointing performance against Haiti and are priced at 2/5 to beat 8/1 outsiders Denmark in Sydney.

Georgia Stanway’s retaken penalty settled the matter in Brisbane but the Lionesses’ lack of cutting edge is proving to be a concern for head coach Sarina Wiegman.

The Danes beat China by the same 1-0 scoreline in their group opener as we take a look at how Friday’s game may unfold in our England Women v Denmark Women betting tips.

Goals a concern for Lionesses

England scored a tournament-high 22 goals en route to winning last year’s European Championship but goals have proved hard to come by in recent months.

The Lionesses are in a period of transition with Ellen White and Jill Scott having retired and they headed Down Under without three of their star players: Euro 2022 Golden Boot winner Beth Mead, skipper Leah Williamson and creative midfielder Fran Kirby.

Wiegman claimed England were in “a good place” in the build-up to the tournament but failure to score from open play in their last four matches means those words are starting to ring hollow.

As for Denmark, they were heading for a goalless draw with China in their first World Cup appearance in 16 years until substitute Amalie Vangsgaard headed in an 89th-minute corner to seal a 1-0 victory.

Recent games involving Denmark have tended to be low-scoring affairs, with seven of their last eight involving two goals or fewer, including 1-0 and 2-0 defeats by France and Netherlands, like England in the top 10 of the world rankings.

With that in mind, the European champions to win and under 2.5 goals at 17/10 is the first of Friday’s England Women v Denmark Women betting tips at the Sydney Football Stadium.

England’s lack of goals against Haiti were not for the want of trying and 11 of their 21 shots were on target, five of which came from Alessia Russo, who got the nod ahead of Rachel Daly in the central striker role.

Daly also had a couple of attempts on goal in her 15 minutes on the pitch and it remains to be seen who starts up front on Friday, so it may pay dividends to look elsewhere in the anytime goalscorer market.

At 13/5, Chloe Kelly, the heroine in the Euro 2022 final, could be worth chancing as an option having scored a double in a 6-1 win against Belgium in February and she also had a couple of shots on target against the Haitians during her 90 minutes.

For the last of our England Women v Denmark Women betting tips, a goalless first half at 27/20 certainly has its merits.

There have been no goals before the break in three of the Danes’ last four matches, against Sweden, Japan and China – like England inside the top 15 in the world rankings, so we could be in for a tight opening 45 minutes.

England’s troubles in front of goal have already been mentioned, so 0-0 at half-time seems a possibility.