The Lionesses vs The Matildas

Fresh from winning the first ever Women’s Finalissima last Thursday at Wembley stadium, England tonight continue their preparations for the World Cup this summer as they face hosts Australia in a friendly at the Gtech Community Stadium in London.

In front of a sell out crowd of around 17,000 people, The Lionesses will want to continue their dominance and hopefully extend their incredible unbeaten run to 31 games under boss Sarina Wiegman. Standing in their way are Australia, who prior to their 1-0 defeat to Scotland on Friday, had been in great form.

Team News

England:

The lionesses will be without defender Alex Greenwood for tonight’s game as she withdrew from the squad 3 days ago due to injury. Wiegman confirmed in her pre-match press conference that Greenwood was showing some signs of concussion, so she has been sent back to Manchester City to receive some treatment.

Apart from Greenwood, everyone else in the squad will be available for selection. Wiegman did hint that she would start the same 11 that started against Brazil on Thursday. But it will be interesting to see who takes Greenwood’s place, could an international debut be handed to West Ham’s Lucy Parker?

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Australia:

The Matilda’s may be without a lot of their key players such as Arsenal’s Caitlin Foord and Alanna Kennedy (Manchester City) who both withdrew from the squad due to injury prior to the Scotland fixture last Friday.

But, Chelsea’s star striker and global icon Sam Kerr is likely to feature tonight after being an unused substitution in Friday afternoons fixture.

H2H

Tonight’s fixture will be the first time these two nations have faced one another since 2018. This fixture ended in a 1-1 draw with goals coming from Fran Kirby (Eng) and Clare Polkinghorne (Aus)

Since 2011, the sides have only played each other 4 times and excluding the most recent draw, England have W2 and Australia have W1.

But with England’s breathtaking form under Wiegman it could prove a difficult test for Australia tonight especially as they are missing some key players in midfield and defence.

Key Players:

England -> Lucy Bronze

Barcelona’s Lucy Bronze proves every game why she is the best defensive and attacking right back in the world.

Her darting runs forward down the right flank and her link up play with wingers Lauren Hemp, Lauren James or Chloe Kelly and even midfielders Kiera Walsh and Georgia Stanway benefits the side massively going forward. Also her work rate and ability to defend against some of the fastest and best wingers in the world makes her an incredible all round defender.

She provided the brilliant cut back ball to Ella Toone on Thursday night at Wembley after linking up with numerous players in the build up. The 31 year old also has one or two goals in her especially from corners or long range efforts so Australia must keep an eye on her tonight.

This team ❤️ pic.twitter.com/gSlSX3UpfQ

— Lucy Bronze (@LucyBronze) April 6, 2023

Australia -> Sam Kerr

So many of the English players, especially the defenders will know just how good Sam Kerr is after playing against her numerous times in the WSL where the 29 year old plays for Chelsea.

Kerr is no doubt one of the best strikers in the world as she has an unreal goal scoring ability and she is such a popular figure for women’s football across the globe.

This season the forward has made 16 WSL appearances and has bagged herself 8 goals and 4 assists. She is third in the goal scoring list, where England’s Rachel Daly currently sits 5 goals above her. But her record for her country is outstanding, she is her countries all time leading goal scorer, and could cause the English defenders a problem tonight especially if they switch off for just one second.

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