Very tight game is what awaits us this Saturday at the Samara Arena, when Sweden and England go out to get a good result that allows them to get into the top four places of the 2018 World Cup Russia.
Sweden:
For many, those led by Janne Andersson was one of the teams that we did not have in the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup, but the order and the union that shows the Swedish national team is very commendable and we even dare to say that the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been decisive for this, since the game of Sweden was based on the environment of him and now we see a very compact selection in all its lines, with players who do not shine in the main clubs in Europe as they are the cases of the forwards Ola Toivonen and Marcus Berg, the defender Granqvist and without mentioning his driver as it is Emil Forsberg who comes just to score the winning goal in the round of 16 against Switzerland and with this overcoming the fact in his The last two World Cup presentations were Korea and Japan 2002 and Germany 2006 where they stayed in the last 16.
For this Saturday’s game Andersson will not be able to count on defender Mikael Lusting who is suspended due to the accumulation of yellow cards, and everything suggests that his place will be occupied by Bologna’s Italian player, Emil Krafth.
While who returns to the star lineup is Sebastian Larsson who has already completed his suspension date and will do so instead of Gustav Svensson.
England:
For its part, Gareth Southgate is coming out everything planned for this World Cup Russia 2018.
And it is true that the Three Lions suffered a lot to leave on the way to the selection of Colombia in the round of 16, since they had to go to the penalty points to get into these quarterfinals of a World Cup. this way for the second time in his last seven attempts.
But despite how complicated it is for Colombia, it can not be denied that the defeat against Belgium was planned by Southgate, and that is that if we look at the teams that are on their way, only the Three Lions have been the only ones to raise a World Cup title and of course his opponent this Saturday is the other team that has played a final, so to win the series against the Swedes we are convinced that they will be finalists.
In terms of direct confrontations these teams have met twice in world championships and both in group stage, so the first time was in Korea and Japan 2002 with a draw at one goal, while the last was in the World Cup Germany 2006 and the result was also a draw but two goals.
On the general level, these teams have faced each other 24 times, with England winning 8 games for 7 of Sweden.
As for the last match played this one took place in November 2012 with victory for the Swedes by 4-2.
Possible alignments:
Sweden: Olsen; Krafth, Lindelof, Granqvist, Augustinsson; Claesson, Larsson, Ekdal, Forsberg; Berg, Toivonen.
England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire; Henderson, Trippier, Rashford, Alli, Rose; Sterling, Kane.
PREDICTION: Over 1.5 goals @ 1.54
