The third quarter-final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup takes place at the Samara Arena on Saturday 7th July at 18:00 local time and pits Sweden against England.
Sweden last progressed from the Round of 16 at the 1994 World Cup in the USa. They went on to finish third, so will be hoping for a repeat performance. The English fell in the quarter-finals at both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups but this side seems much stronger than those.
Sweden have kept three clean sheets in their four games at this World Cup as they have focussed on being defensively strong and hoping to nick a goal from their well worked set pieces. England may have scored nine goals in their four games, but only one of those has come from open play, the rest have been penalties or corners.
We can see Sweden playing defensively to try and frustrate England, who have only ever won once at the World Cup in a penalty shootout and that was in the Round of 16 at this tournament. The game should have plenty of exciting moments, but looks destined for a 0-0 draw.
Sweden vs England Key Bites
The last time Sweden went further than the quarter-finals of a FIFA World Cup they finished in third place. This was back in 1994 in the United Stages and they have only managed to qualify for three of the six tournaments since then.
Sweden are extremely well organized and play a very rigid 4-4-2 formation where the attackers are the first line of defense, closing down the opposition and giving them practically no time at all on the ball. This stoic defensive style has resulted in three clean sheets in four games and England have already shown they struggle to break down strong defenses.
Focussing on defense means Sweden can be toothless in attack, especially against stronger teams. Aside from beating Mexico 3-0 in their second group game of this tournament, the last time Sweden scored two or more goals was back in October 2017 when they defeated Luxembourg 8-0 in qualifying.
England finished in the quarter-finals of both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and have only progressed deeper on two occasions: once in 1966 when they won the title and again in 1990 in Italy when they finished in fourth-place.
The English have been a mixed bag in the tournament so far. They beat Tunisia 2-1 courtesy of a last minute goal from captain Harry Kane, then demolished Panama 6-1. England lost to Belgium in their final game, although both sides made wholesale changes to their starting XI as they were both guaranteed to qualify.
Colombia faced England in the Round of 16 in a thrilling game that ended 1-1 after 90-minutes and extra time before england won on penalties. It was the English's first taste of success in a penalty shootout at the World Cup and they will not want to go through that stress again.
England's pace in attack should worry the Swedes, but apart from Harry Kane, who is the 2018 World Cup top scorer, only Jesse Lingard has scored from open play. While at the other end, England are without a clean sheet through their first four World Cup games in Russia.
Category : Betting Picks
Tag : FIFA World Cup , Soccer
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