The United States Women's National Team has just four scheduled fixtures left to this season, and we're going to see how a relatively new era of stars takes to the pitch in preparation for a new year in 2017 that is going to be a nice bridge to the 2019 World Cup. This week, the team has two matches against No. 15 ranked Switzerland in what could be interesting affairs for sure.
Don't miss the soccer action from Rio Tinto Stadium at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, October 19, 2016. Catch every moment of the match live on ESPN2.
Odds Analysis
We know that the Americans are going to be heavy favorites in this match, and why not? They haven't been beaten in regulation in a match since December 16, 2015 against China, and their only draws came against substantially better teams than this, Japan, Colombia and Sweden. Sure, the loss in PKs to Sweden was a stunner in the Olympics, and that loss is going to sting for quite some time, but the fact of the matter is that the Americans still easily have the best women's soccer team in the world by a country mile.
Roster Analysis
The big story is, of course, the fact that Hope Solo's career is probably over with the United States. She's been suspended for the foreseeable future, and that leaves Jill Ellis' side relatively inexperienced in net. Could Jane Campbell be the next of the great American keepers to be on this team for a long time? She's only 21-years old and has been called up for this match, and she wouldn't be here if Ellis didn't think she could play even though she's still playing for Stanford in college.
There are some mainstays here for sure who will be in this lineup. Becky Sauerbrunn and Carli Lloyd are back, while Tobin Heath, Christen Press and Kelley O'Hara will be big parts of this lineup as well. But with Heather O'Reilly retiring, Megan Rapinoe falling out of favor because of her National Anthem antics, and Ellis wanting to get some more youth in this side, we're going to see a much different team this time around than what we've seen recently.
The Swiss definitely have some experienced players. Caroline Abbe is the captain of this club and has 105 Caps to her name, but she's not the only woman who has been playing for a long time for her country. Martina Moser, Sandra Betschart, Selina Kuster, Ramona Bachmann, Lara Dickenmann, Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic, Vanessa Burki and Vanessa Bernauer all have at least 50 appearances for the Swiss.
Recent Form
The Swiss have been on a bit of a tear of late, though obviously, nothing truly gets you ready for the United States. The team has outscored Northern Ireland, Georgia and the Czech Republic by a combined 12-0 over the course of its last three matches, and 2-1 wins against Italy and Norway are nothing to slouch about either. That said, the last time this team played against a serious foe was back in March against Sweden, a 1-0 loss on the road.
The Americans have won consecutive matches since the Olympics, beating up on the Netherlands and Thailand by an aggregate of 12-1. The Stars and Stripes have won five straight friendly matches and are 8-1-0 this year in nine games of no competitive consequence.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
This isn't the same United States team that played in the Olympics or even in the SheBelieves Cup earlier in the year. This is a young squad with a lot of questions to be answered, and we're going to learn a lot about Lindsey Horan, Emily Sonnett, Danielle Colaprico, and others. There are only two strikers on this team with any Caps whatsoever, and of the seven defenders who are here for this match, O'Hara and Sauerbrunn have 202 of the 213 Caps.
Yes, the Americans will probably win this match, but there's no guarantee this is going to be a romp. We expect better out of the second fixture against Switzerland than the first.
Soccer Odds: United States 2, Switzerland 1
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