MX23RW : Saturday, November 23 16:57:31| >> :600:10991970:10991970:
[monks data]
Zambia national football team
Olympic Games Women's Football | Group Stage
Jul 21, 2021 at 12pm UK
Miyagi Stadium
Netherlands national football team

Zambia Women
3 - 10
N'lands Women

Banda (19', 82', 83')
Siamfuko (66')
FT(HT: 1-6)
Miedema (9', 15', 29', 59'), Martens (14', 38'), Pelova (80'), van de Sanden (45'), Roord (64'), Beerensteyn (75')
van Es (90')

Preview: Zambia Women vs. Netherlands Women - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Olympic Games Women's Football clash between Zambia Women and Netherlands Women, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

On Wednesday Zambia Women face the Netherlands Women in Group F of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with this game to be played at the Miyagi Stadium.

This summer's tournament will be both of these nations' first Olympics, and they are in a group with experienced sides Brazil and China.


Match preview

Netherlands Women head coach Sarina Wiegman pictured in July 2019© Reuters

Zambia's preparation for the Tokyo Olympics has been disrupted by coronavirus restrictions that have limited the teams they could play against due to travel issues.

Therefore, Bruce Mwape's side have only played South Africa in the lead up to Wednesday's opening fixture, and that friendly was three months ago.

Zambia lost 3-1 to South Africa, who proved to be tough opponents having not lost a game since the end of 2019.

Many Zambian internationals have missed out on a place in the 22-strong squad for this summer due to injury or illness including Racheal Nachula, who would have become a two-sport Olympian having competed in the 400-metre event in 2008.

As for the Netherlands, they failed to qualify for the World Cup until 2015, and as that tournament was UEFA's designated qualifying competition for the Olympics, the Netherlands did not make it to the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 or 2012 Olympics.

The Dutch made it to their first World Cup in 2015 but, despite their round-of-16 exit being good enough for a post-World Cup mini tournament, Sweden sealed the last European spot for Rio 2016.

However, Sarina Wiegman's side are not to be underestimated at their first Olympics due to their success in the European Championships in 2017 and a long run in the 2019 World Cup.

The Netherlands won their first major international tournament at home in 2017 as they beat Denmark in the Euros, and they followed that up with a runners-up finish in France two years later.

Wiegman has been in charge of the Dutch national side since 2016 and this summer's Olympics will be her last tournament as Netherlands manager, before taking the job of England manager.

An emphatic 7-0 victory over Norway is the result which the Netherlands come into this tournament with, after their final friendly against South Africa was cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.

Zambia Women form (all competitions):
  • L

Netherlands Women form (all competitions):
  • L
  • W
  • L
  • W



Team News

Zambia captain Barbara Banda was the 2020 Chinese Women's Super League top goalscorer, after making her move from Logrono to Shanghai Shengli in January last year, and is expected to lead the line for her nation on Wednesday.

It is a young Zambian squad heading to the Olympics, with the oldest player being forward Hellen Mubanga at 26 years old, and 16-year-old Esther Siamfuko is the youngest member of any of the women's football squads at Tokyo.

The reigning European champions have a bundle of attacking threat they can utilise, including Lieke Martens, who won the treble with Barcelona last season, Lineth Beerensteyn, who helped Bayern Munich to their first league title in five years and Vivianne Miedema, who became the Women's Super League's all-time top goalscorer in October.

The most experienced player in the Netherlands squad is Ajax midfielder Sherida Spitse, who has 188 caps to her name, and goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal is the captain for this summer's Olympics.

Zambia Women possible starting lineup:
Musonda; Mulenga, Khosa, Mweemba, Belemu; Kundananji, Chanda, Musase, Wilombe; Mubanga, Banda

Netherlands Women possible starting lineup:
Van Veenendaal; Janssen, Van der Gragt, Nouwen, Folkertsma; Groenen, Van de Donk, Spitse; Miedema, Martens, Beerensteyn


SM words green background

We say: Zambia Women 0-3 Netherlands Women

Despite neither team reaching an Olympics before now, the Netherlands have experience of winning a major international tournament which will be useful in their debut Olympics this summer.

Zambia's disrupted preparations will not have helped the side, and the quality in the Dutch front three could bring goals for the Oranges on Wednesday.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 2.5:data



ID:456047:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect7299:

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Netherlands Women win with a probability of 48.46%. A win for Zambia Women had a probability of 29.48% and a draw had a probability of 22.1%.

The most likely scoreline for a Netherlands Women win was 1-2 with a probability of 9.14%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (6.44%) and 0-2 (6.21%). The likeliest Zambia Women win was 2-1 (6.96%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (9.46%).


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