The German national soccer team was the favorite at the outset of this tournament to win the World Cup, and after posting the second-biggest win in women's World Cup history, the club is going to look to clinch up the Group B title on Thursday against the only other legitimate contender in the group, Norway.
ODDS ANALYSIS
QUOTE TO NOTE
"The first game of the tournament is always nerve-wracking. We are happy to have three points, but we have to improve aspects of our play against other teams. We're ready for the game against Germany on Thursday." – Norway manager Even Pellerud on his team's preparation for its toughest match of the tournament
RECENT FORM
Neither one of these teams really faced much in the way of resistance in the opening match of the World Cup, though the fact that Norway was favored by 5.5 goals and Germany was favored by 4.5 should have been a good indication that that was going to be the case.
Germany had six different goal scorers and had two different players yield hat tricks on the day against the Ivory Coast, while Norway jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening half and added a fourth in the second half to beat Thailand 4-0.
The Germans have now won six straight matches dating back to the Algarve Cup, and they have won five of those six duels by multiple goals.
Norway qualified for the World Cup with ease due to the fact that it was able to dodge Germany along the way, but this is a much different challenge than what this team has played against of late.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
For our money, Norway just wasn't as crisp as it perhaps should have been against Thailand. Isabell Herlovsen might have scored twice, but she wasn't all that fantastic against a very poor team which really shouldn't even be here at the World Cup.
The Norwegian defense also hasn't been tested one lick yet, something which will change against Germany.
That said, Celia Sasic and Anja Mittag aren't going to have yards and yards of open space as they did against the Ivory Coast, and the Norwegians aren't going to set their line as far up as the African nation did.
This one won't be as chippy as Germany's first match was, but it won't be such a paddy-cake match as Norway faced against a Thailand side which basically conceded its fate before the duel ever kicked off.
The end result will still be a German win, but it won't be by as emphatic of a result as many are going to suspect after seeing that 10-0 final from Sunday.
Germany 2, Norway 1
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Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker today! The fixture between Germany and Norway will take place at 4:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 11, 2015 at Lansdowne Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The game will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1.
