Sweden vs England FIFA World Cup 2018 – Lineups, Predictions & Stats Preview 7 July 2018
England qualified for the quarterfinals after a nerve-wracking penalty shootout against Colombia and if you ask any Englishman he will tell you that “Football is coming home”. Sweden, on their part, eliminated Switzerland after a 1:0 win in regular time and will play in the quarterfinals of a World Cup for the first time since 1994.
Sweden Probable Lineups and Stats
Robin Olsen has been impressive and will retain his position as the goalkeeper. Ludwig Augustinsson who scored a goal in their match against Mexico, and Emil Krafth who will replace the suspended Mikael Lustig, will be on the left back and right back positions respectively. In the central defence, Sweden will deploy Andreas Granqvist who was outstanding against Mexico and Victor Lindelof. The four midfielders in their 4-4-2 formation will be Emil Forsberg, Albin Ekdal, Sebastian Larson, and Victor Claesson who had an assist on that game. The Sweden front line will be led by attacking duo of Ola Toivonen and Marcus Berg.
Sweden stunned the world by defeating the strong Mexico team by three goals and then managed to eliminate Switzerland after a 1:0 win in the Round of 16. The only downside was their 33% possession, which you feel they will need to improve in this game. Their defence was as solid as it has been throughout the tournament and it greatly gives them a front foot.
England Probable Lineups and Stats
In their Last 16 clash against Colombia, England broke a long-standing curse of not winning a penalty shootout during a World Cup and won 4:3 on penalties. They did not impress much with their performance but managed to pull themselves together after a 93-minute equalizer and this will surely give them more belief and courage in that they can go all the way to the final. Going into the Sweden match, England have some injury worries, with Jamie Vardy probably missing the game but that should not affect the starting lineup. Those expected to start when England faceoff with Sweden are Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Dier, Young, Alli, Lingard, Rashford, Kane and Henderson.
England are the side that is pressing higher and winning the ball back in the final third of the pitch more than any other team and with Harry Kane scoring with all six of his shots on target, every mistake on Sweden’s part may cause them great troubles.
Sweden v England – Head to Head
Sweden and England have faced each other 23 times so far. Both teams have 7 wins each and there have been 9 draws. The last time they met was in 2012 when Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored that famous scissor kick goal that eventually won the FIFA Puskás Award. That game ended in a 4:2 defeat for England which is the same score as in their first ever game against each other in May 1923.
Expert Tip
Sweden has kept a clean sheet in five of their last six World Cup games, while England is undefeated in 14 of their previous 15 World Cup games. Sweden has the weakest front line we have seen in the World Cup Round of 16 and probably the strongest defence. Given that we expect a very tight game and England nicking the victory by a single goal.Interesting Facts and Information
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