Nigeria and Canada will begin their respective 2023 women’s World Cup campaigns against one another Thursday evening, with kickoff set for 10:30 p.m. ET in Melbourne. Both teams will be hoping for a strong start to the tournament.
Canada is the heavy favorite according to DraftKings Sportsbook, checking in at -255 on the moneyline. Nigeria is listed at +800, and the draw comes in at +340. Here’s a look at the officiating crew for this game.
The match will be officiated by Lina Lehtovaara, who has served as a referee in 73 matches across various competitions per transfermrkt.us. She has given out a whopping 296 yellow cards in those matches, which comes out to 4.05 yellow cards per match. The line for total cards in this game is set at 2.5, with the over coming in at +110. There’s some value for bettors who believe in Lehtovaara’s previous record.
Here’s a look at the rest of the officiating crew for the game.
Assistant Referee 1: Chrysoula Kourompylia
Assistant Referee 2: Karolin Kaivoja
Fourth Official: Iuliana Demetrescu
VAR: Pol van Boekel
AVAR: Abdulla Al-Marri
OVAR: Katrin Rafalski