THE biggest Women's World Cup in history is under way and for once Scotland aren't spending the summer spectating from home.
Shelley Kerr made history by leading the Scots to the finals in France and to add an extra bit of spice to that fine achievement Scotland will clash with arch-rivals England in their maiden World Cup match.
Phil Neville's England are one of the favourites to lift the trophy and the bookmakers firmly believe they will get off to a winning start on Sunday with an English victory as short as 2/9 (bet365)
Scotland are as high as 12/1 (bet365) to triumph and if you fancy the Scots to tame the Lionesses by taking a point then the draw is on offer at 19/4 (McBookie).
Scotland may be the underdogs but have made it known they are not heading to France to make up the numbers and rightly so having won four out of five ahead of this showpiece.
These two familiar foes met during Euro 2017 group stages when England hit an injury-ravaged Scotland for six without reply – but a repeat of that scoreline here is unlikely.
Scotland are much improved since that nightmare in the Netherlands two years ago and will go into this Auld Enemy encounter high in confidence after beating Brazil back in April.
Shelley Kerr's side will also be conscious of their opponents' pre-tournament setbacks following England's recent defeats to Canada and New Zealand respectively.
However, despite some uninspiring friendly performances this English side lifted the SheBelieves Cup back in March and expectations of a strong showing in France have since followed.
Furthermore, Neville has a lot of experience in his side, none more so than midfielder Karen Carney who is incredibly set to appear in her eighth major tournament for England and add to her astronomical 140 caps.
Carney's experience, coupled with the quality of Lyon's league and Champions League double winner Lucy Bronze along with Manchester City goal machine Nikita Parris demonstrate why England are ranked third in the world and 7/1 (William Hill) fourth favourites to lift the World Cup in France.
Parris is the all-time top scorer in the FA Women's Super League and will be playing her trade in France next season with European champions Lyon after winning the FA Cup with Man City as well as the Football Writers' Player of the Year award.
On the back of such a stunning season the Scots defence could struggle to contain Parris and the English forward is an enticing 7/5 (McBookie) to score anytime.
However, for all of England's attacking threat they have conceded in seven of their last 10 matches.
Meanwhile, Scotland have scored in 12 of their last 14 outings and that has coincided with creative midfielder and Arsenal captain Kim Little getting back to her best following a troublesome two years with injury.
Furthermore, Scotland have goalscoring threats of their own in the shape of young Erin Cuthbert and veteran Jane Ross, so the Scots could give England a fright in France and I therefore like the look of the 6-4 (bet365) on offer for Both Teams to Score.
What's more both of these teams have played a combined 15 fixtures in 2019 – eight of which have seen over 2.5 goals – four in Scotland's eight games and four in England's seven games.
With this in mind, along with the aforementioned attacking threat of both sides, another approach to consider is backing over 2.5 goals at 3/4 (McBookie) in what should be a riveting contest between these two rivals at the Allianz Riviera.
This Women's World Cup match between England and Scotland will be played on Jun 9, 2019 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best England vs Scotland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
