Philippines vs Switzerland Odds, Prediction, Picks | Women’s World Cup Preview
Eurasia Sport Images/Getty. Pictured: Ramona Bachmann.
Philippines vs Switzerland Odds
| Philippines Odds | +2000 |
| Switzerland Odds | -700 |
| Draw | +700 |
| Over/Under | 2.5 (-188 / +140) |
| Both Teams to Score (Yes/No) | (+162 / -225) |
| Odds via bet365. Get up-to-the-minute World Cup odds here. | |
The Philippines and Switzerland kick off their World Cup in Group A in a crucial match with the Swiss needing three points if they're going to go through.
Philippines are making their World Cup debut after qualifying via making the semifinals of the AFC Asian Cup in 2022. In the lead-up to this World Cup, they tested themselves playing Costa Rica, Chile and New Zealand, but they failed to win any of those matches. They haven't played a match since May 9, so in this first match may be a little shaky trying to get the rust off.
Switzerland come into this World Cup in a state of flux. They had a poor showing at the Euros in 2022, although they were in a very difficult group with Sweden, the Netherlands and Portugal. They then came in second in a World Cup Qualifying group with Italy and Croatia before beating a decent Welsh side to get to the World Cup. They are playing under a new manager after Nils Nielsen left to become the director of football at Manchester City, so it's even more crucial for them to get their World Cup off on the right foot against an inferior opponent.
Philippines Dealing With Talent Gap
There is not much talent across this squad to compete with the top teams in this group. They have a lot of college players playing in the United States and some playing in Australia, but they have nobody really playing in one of the top leagues around the world.
Philippines are another team that is going to be very aggressive. When they have the ball they push forward and play transitionally, and they do offer some pace going forward to perhaps give opposing defenses some problems.
In terms of a formation, it’s a standard 4-4-2 from the Philippines, and out of possession they look to stay very organized and at times have been difficult to break down. The problem for them is talent level. New Zealand are the only other World Cup team they’ve played in the last year, and before that they went to the Pinatar Cup to play in Spain, losing all three matches to Scotland, Wales and Iceland by a combined score of 8 to 1.
Switzerland Transitioning Into World Cup
With Nielsen leaving his post to become the football director for Manchester City, that leaves Inka Grings in charge. She’s only been in charge for four matches and has failed to win against some pretty lackluster competition in China, Iceland, Zambia and Morocco.
When the new manager came in, Switzerland switched from a 4-1-4-1 to a 4-4-2 but kept the diamond concept in the middle of the pitch. The Swiss are a slow build-up, progression type of squad. They tend to control a lot of possession, but it doesn’t usually translate into high-quality chances. In the Euros, they only created 2.8 xG over their three matches against high-quality competition. In their most recent friendly with Morocco, who are one of the longshots in this tournament, they held over 60% possession, but failed to create over 1 xG.
Out of possession you would think they would be a high-pressing team trying to win the ball back to keep possession, but they’re actually quite passive with their PPDA over the past year, sitting at 10.43. They conceded over 6 xG at the Euros, so they are a team that needs the ball to succeed.
Philippines vs Switzerland Pick
The Philippines are going to be uber-conservative in their first-ever World Cup match, especially given their 4-4-2 low block-centric style of play. Even though they are the longest shot in this entire tournament and arguably the least talented, I do think they will be able to keep Switzerland at bay for a good portion of this match.
The Swiss' style of play is so slow and they have struggled so much creating chances when they get to the final third, which was very evident at the Euros last summer. You couple that with the state of flux they are in given the managerial change to Grings, who has only been in charge for four matches, and it just leaves a lot of question marks heading into this first match.
So, I like the value on the under 3 at -106 in what should be a very low-event type match.
The Pick: Under 3 (-106 via BetRivers)
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