Switzerland Women will be hoping to start their Women’s Euro 2022 campaign on a positive note when they take on Portugal Women at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday.
Both nations are making their second appearances at the European Championship after making their tournament debuts in 2017.
Portugal’s European Championship dreams had faded away following a 1-0 aggregate loss to Russia in the Euro 2022 qualifying playoff.
However, UEFA banned Russia from participating due to the invasion of Ukraine, which provided Portugal the chance to compete at the Euros.
They will now be looking to better their performance from their first major competition, which saw Portugal exit Euro 2017 at the group stage.
If Francisco Neto’s side are to make it through to the knockout rounds, they they must navigate through a group that contains Sweden, Netherlands and Switzerland.
The team ranked 30th in the world enter the tournament in a rich vein of form after avoiding defeat in their last four matches, with three of those contests ending in victory.
Like Saturday’s opponents, Switzerland were also involved in the playoffs after finishing behind Belgium in their qualifying group.
After they drew 2-2 on aggregate with the Czech Republic and with no team able to find a winner in extra time, the playoff tie was decided on penalties.
Despite missing their first two-spot-kicks, Switzerland managed to secure their spot at Euro 2022 by scoring their next three, while Czech Pepublic could only find the back of the net twice.
Nils Nielsen’s side will now be looking to reach the knockout stages after being eliminated in the group phase five years ago.
However, their hopes of advancing from the group will be suppressed by their current six-game winless run, while their two warm-up matches in June resulted in 7-0 and 4-0 defeats to Germany and England respectively.
Portugal Women vs Switzerland Women head to head
The two teams have previously met on five occasions in friendlies and the Algarve Cup, where Portugal have claimed two victories while Switzerland have won three. Portugal have scored six goals and conceded eight in the process. In their last meeting, Switzerland claimed a 3-1 victory in the Algarve Cup.
Portugal 1-2 Switzerland 14/01/14
Portugal 1-2 Switzerland 16/01/14
Portugal 2-1 Switzerland 10/02/15
Portugal 1-0 Switzerland 12/02/15
Switzerland 3-1 Portugal 04/03/19
Portugal Women latest home form
Portugal have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their four most recent matches. They played out a 1-1 draw with Australia in their last home form in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored nine goals and conceded three.
Portugal 0-2 Norway 23/02/22
Portugal 3-0 Bulgaria 12/04/22
Portugal 4-0 Greece 22/06/22
Portugal 1-0 Greece 25/06/22
Portugal 1-1 Australia 28/06/22
Portugal Women latest away form
Portugal lost their last away game 3-0 to Germany in the World Cup Qualifiers. However, they have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their previous four matches. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded just four.
Turkey 1-1 Portugal 16/09/21
Israel 0-4 Portugal 19/09/21
Bulgaria 0-5 Portugal 26/10/21
Norway 0-2 Portugal 16/02/22
Germany 3-0 Portugal 09/04/22
Switzerland Women latest home form
Switzerland have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, as they have lost each of their three most recent matches. They lost 4-0 to England in their last home game in a friendly. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded eight.
Switzerland 2-0 Romania 22/10/21
Switzerland 5-0 Croatia 26/10/21
Switzerland 0-3 Austaria 23/02/22
Switzerland 0-1 Italy 12/04/22
Switzerland 0-4 England 30/06/22
Switzerland Women latest away form
Switzerland lost their last away game 7-0 to Germany in a friendly match. However, they have recently been on a good run of form on the road, as they have been unbeaten in their previous six matches. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded 11.
Italy 1-2 Switzerland 26/11/21
Lithuania 0-7 Switzerland 30/11/21
Northern Ireland 2-2 Switzerland 20/02/22
Romania 1-1 Switzerland 08/04/22
Germany 7-0 Switzerland 24/06/22
Portugal Women news
Francisco Neto gave each of his three goalkeepers playing time in the warm-up matches, and he is expected to opt for Ines Pereira, who plays for Servette.
Centre-backs Diana Gomez and Carole Costa will shield Pereira, while Joana Marchao and Catarina Amado are likely to operate as the two full-backs.
Switzerland Women news
Switzerland are set to operate with a centre-back pairing of Rahel Kiwic and Luana Buhler, while Lea Walti will captain the side for the tournament.
Lea will start on Sunday in central midfield, while the visitors will be looking towards their record goalscorer Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic to pose the main goal threat.
Prediction and Odds
With the contest representing the tournament opener for both sides, we are expecting the two teams to be involved in a cagey affair.
However, with Switzerland 10 places higher than Portugal in the FIFA World rankings, we believe they will have the extra quality needed to edge out Portugal on Sunday.
Odds: 1 2.30 X 2.05 2 2.15
Probable outcomes
Portugal 0-1 Switzerland
Portugal 1-2 Switzerland
Portugal 2-3 Switzerland
Portugal 0-0 Switzerland
Portugal 1-1 Switzerland
