I like watching soccer while I eat my morning cereal as much as the next person, but I’m certainly glad that the U.S. Women’s National Team’s first two group games are at 9:00pm ET. USA should ease into this competition with an easy win, as the top-ranked team in the world faces the bottom-ranked team in the World Cup. That being said, there is a good chance the days of the U.S. winning games 13-0, like they did against Thailand in the last World Cup, are over. This has a chance to be the tightest Women’s World Cup ever, as evidenced by New Zealand getting their first win ever in a World Cup over group favorites Norway and Nigeria earning a draw against the reigning Olympic champions, Canada.

That being said, this is a pretty terrible matchup for Vietnam. USA’s weakness is its inexperienced back line, but it is unlikely Vietnam will be able to take advantage outside of an occasional counterattack. Offensively, the USWNT has the most talented group of attackers in the world even with Mallory Swanson and Catarina Macario missing out due to injury. Vietnam will no doubt try to sit back and defend but it would be shocking if they were able to hold up under the sustained pressure of Sophia Smith, Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle et al.

 

MVP/Captain

Sophia Smith, FWD, USA

I think Smith is the safest US forward both in terms of playing time and production, and I have no reason why she is so cheap on FanDuel. I would love to captain her on DraftKings but then your budget will get awfully tight.

Trinity Rodman, FWD, USA

The hype is getting out of control but her price isn’t, especially on DraftKings. Rodman scored both goals in the USWNT’s last friendly and if that is enough to get her into the starting lineup for this game, she has an excellent chance of scoring her first goal in a World Cup.

 

FLEX

Lynn Williams, FWD, USA

In a way this is cheating, because what I’m really saying is that you should play whoever starts out of Rodman and Williams. I thought she warranted a special entry, however, because she is the cheapest USWNT FWD/ MID on FanDuel. Williams is fourth in the NWSL in goals scored, ahead of both Trinity Rodman and Alex Morgan. If she starts I’ll play her on both sites, but she will be in all of my FanDuel lineups.

Huynh Nhu, FWD, Vietnam

If Vietnam is going to score, or even get any shots on goal, it will almost certainly come through Huynh Nhu on the counterattack. She is the only player on this team who doesn’t play in the Vietnamese pro league and is Vietnam’s all-time leading scorer.

Hoang Thi Loan, DEF, Vietnam

She is the best tackler on the team, and with as much as we expect the U.S. to be attacking, she should rack up defensive stats. That is more valuable on FanDuel but she could be a reasonable punt play on both sites.

Lindsey Horan, MID, USA

Horan is more likely to play 90 minutes than Rose Lavelle and she is more likely to get involved in the attack than Julie Ertz. Horan could spend some time on free kicks if Lavelle and Megan Rapinoe are both out of the game, and she is the closest thing we have to a cheap way into the U.S. attack.

 

Dart Throw

Emily Fox, DEF, USA

On FanDuel I’m paying an extra $1 for Crystal Dunn, but Fox costs $3,200 more than Dunn on DraftKings. Dunn is far more accomplished as an outside back but the U.S. thrives on overlapping runs on both sides of the pitch, and it certainly helps that they should have an overwhelming amount of possession. 

Tran Thi Kim Thanh, K, Vietnam

Vietnam is going to try to sit back deep and defend and if they are successful, Thanh could face a lot of long shots for some easy saves. We aren’t getting a win or a clean sheet but there are worse ideas than taking a cheap keeper and hoping for a bunch of saves.

Pham Hai Yen, FWD, Vietnam

She is probably the best attacker in the Vietnamese league, so I’m not sure why she’s so cheap on FanDuel. None of Vietnam’s attackers are particularly likely to produce much for fantasy, so we may as well save some money on our dart throw.