Euro 2012: Sweden vs England preview

June 14, 2012
By: Matthew Clarke

Sweden have no choice but to try and beat England after losing their opening game to Ukraine, whereas the Three Lions are also in need of three points following the 1-1 draw with France.

Having established themselves as one of the top national teams in Europe, Sweden were tipped to spring a surprise and pip either England or France to a place in the quarter-finals, and everything looked to be going as planned when Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the opening goal against Ukraine.

However, Erik Hamren’s side allowed themselves to concede two goals in a short period of time and ended up losing the game after missing several clear-cut chances.

Qualification now looks a mission impossible seeing that the Swedes need at least four points from games against England and France, but you could do a lot worse than backing the Nordic country to beat out-of-form England at 4.00 (3/1) offered by Stan James.

It was more than evident most of the players were well below par in the Ukraine game and if they manage to raise their game against the Three Lions, anything is possible.

Boss Hamren is expected to reshuffle his pack for the England game, with Andreas Granqvist moving to right-back and Jonas Olsson starting in the heart of defence.

Johan Elmander is set for a starting role after recovering from a foot injury, whereas Anders Svensson and Christian Wilhelmsson are also pushing for starting places.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Isaksson – Granqvist, Mellberg, J. Olsson, M. Olsson – Elm, Svensson – Wilhelmsson, Ibrahimovic, Kallstrom – Elmander.

England started the European Championship brightly as they held France to a 1-1 draw, but that result can be seen from several different angles.

While the team showed a lot of character and worked really hard throughout the game, they failed to produce any meaningful build-up play, which is certainly a cause for concern.

Nobody was surprised to see defence-minded England given that Roy Hodgson is in charge, but another strong defensive performance may not be enough for a win over Sweden.

The Three Lions desperately need a win in order to keep their qualifying hopes alive, and it is BetVictory that has the best price on away win, paying no less than 2.15 (23/20).

Roy Hodgson revealed he was pondering resting either Scott Parker or Steven Gerrard against Sweden, but with no real back-up for the two stars, the experienced coach is likely to resist the temptation to do so.

Glen Johnson will continue to play through the pain due to a toe injury, while Theo Walcott is expected to replace James Milner on the right wing. Wayne Rooney serves the final match of his two-game ban.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-1-1): Hart – Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole – Walcott, Gerrard, Parker, Chamberlain – Young – Welbeck.

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