The US is rightly installed as favorites for Saturday's decider and is hard to back against. But it is unlikely that a team fortunate to qualify for the knockout stages generates enough momentum to win, despite past examples like Portugal at Euro 2016 and Denmark at Euro 1992.
Hayes' side has been scintillating, scoring nine goals in three group games. Despite a more pragmatic approach in the knockout stages, Saturday's decider is likely to follow a similar pattern, with four of six knockout games having one goal or fewer.
The USWNT's success has been remarkable at the Olympics, but the gold-medal match against Brazil is expected to have under 2.5 goals given the high stakes and cautious approach adopted by teams in previous knockout games.
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