Stadion Nizhny Novgorod is the venue where the second match of the Group F will take place. We’ll see Sweden taking on South Korea, in a game that might prove to be much more exciting than everyone thinks. As Germany and Mexico play in the same group, both Sweden and South Korea need to go for all 3 points if they have ambitions to advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup.
Sweden
The most famous Swede, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is not in the team. But, he wasn’t there in the qualifiers as well and they managed to finish on the 2nd spot in their group. Sweden then achieved one of the biggest feats in their football history – beating Italy in the playoffs.
They’re now at the World Cup, hoping to cause a few more upsets. Although there are not big-name players in this team, Sweden do look capable of putting on a good show by relying on team spirit. Surely, you can’t expect them to leave Germany behind, but the Swedes do have the right to hope to win the second spot in the group.
But, to do that, they need points right away. If they manage to beat South Korea, they can go with a super-defensive tactic against both Germany and Mexico, and simply hope for the best. Actually, defense seems to be their strongest point.
This is a team that has allowed only 3 goals so far in the 2018, while their World Cup qualification campaign saw them conceding just 9 goals in total. Speaking of Sweden’s defense, their biggest star player is a defender. I’m talking, of course, about Manchester United’s center-back, Victor Lindelof.
South Korea
The Republic of Korea, as is this country’s official name, came to the World Cup after finishing on the 2nd spot in their qualification group, just behind Iran. They won 4 out of possible 10 games in the qualifiers, which is far from being an impressive performance. Although they did very well in the attack (scoring 11 goals in 10 qualifiers), their defense was terrible. South Korea allowed goals against Iran, Uzbekistan, China, and even Qatar.
That said, they’re gonna have to do much better defensively if they plan not to get humiliated at this World Cup. But, the problem is that they don’t have too many quality defenders in the team. Most of them play in South Korea’s domestic league. Actually, all of Korea’s defenders (including three goalkeepers) play in Asian clubs.
It’s much better situation when it comes to midfield and attack, where they really have a lot of talent. Of course, the biggest name in this team is Tottenham’s Son Heung-min, who’s this team’s top scorer. Another player worth mentioning is Koo Ja-cheol from Augsburg, as well as South Korea’s captain, Swansea’s midfielder Ki Sung-yueng.
Possible Lineups
Sweden:
Olsen – Lindelof, Granqvist, Lustig, Olsson – Larsson, Ekdal, Durmaz, Forsberg – Toivonen, Berg
South Korea:
Kim Seung-gyu – Kim Young-gwon, Jang Hyun-soo, Lee Yong, Park Joo-ho – Koo Ja-cheol, Ki Sung-yueng, Lee Jae-sung, Lee Seung-woo – Son Heung-min, Kim Shin-wook
Sweden vs. South Korea Match Prediction
Sweden have the quality on their side and if they play wisely, they can win all three points in this match. By ‘wisely’, I think that they need to try to keep the ball in their feet and control the game. The risk is big to let Korea attack, considering how talented their forwards are. On the other hand, Korea defenders are horrific, so Sweden need to take advantage of that fact.
Sweden vs. South Korea Betting Tips
- Sweden @2.04 (bet365)