This Tuesday afternoon in Saint Petersburg, the destiny of Sweden and Switzerland will be decided. We’re going to find out which of these two teams is going to go to the quarter final of the World Cup 2018 and take on the winner of the Colombia vs. England match. If you want to bet on this game, hopefully this match preview will help you make the right decision.
Sweden
This team seems to play best when times are tough. Let’s not forget that they went past Italy in the World Cup qualifiers, which is something that shows that we shouldn’t be surprised that they’re in the Round of 16. Surely, they got to the knockout stage mostly thanks to the poor performance of the previous World Cup winners Germany, but that doesn’t undermine their performance in the group stage.
Sweden beat Korea in the first round, which followed by a tense match with Germany, which they lost in literally the last moments of the game. But, then in the third round, they destroyed Mexico 3:0, even though everyone thought they were going to lose that match.
Now they’re facing another tough challenge in which they’re going to need to be on top of their game if they want to go to the quarter final. Sweden are putting their hopes in their defensive prowess, which isn’t surprising considering that they conceded goals only in one out of three games. Speaking of defending, this team has a number of quality players at the bac and they’re also very strong in the midfield.
When it comes to Sweden’s attackers, they haven’t been too much in the spotlight. In fact, the only forward that has scored a goal on this tournament is Ola Toivonen. The rest of the goals were scored by defenders – Andreas Granqvist and Ludwig Augustinsson.
Switzerland
Ranked number 6 on FIFA’s list, Switzerland are slight favorites here. They’re without a defeat on this tournament, even though they played against Brazil in the group stage. Actually, the 1:1 draw with Brazil showed how well-organized the Swiss are in defense. They did allow at least a goal on every game so far, but still, it seems that they won’t have any problems outsmarting Sweden’s attackers.
Apart from being good defensively, Switzerland are also very strong in the midfield, where they have Granit Xhaka, one of Arsenal’s best players. They’re also pretty powerful in the attack, which is proven by the fact that they’ve scored 5 goals in three matches at this World Cup.
But, will they show their attacking power by beating Sweden in the 90 minutes of the game, or will it go to extra time? Well, it seems to me that the Swiss are going to try to keep the ball in their possession as much as possible and if their attackers have their day, I don’t see why they wouldn’t beat Sweden in regular time.
Playing additional half an hour of extra time could have a very bad effect on their players’ fitness. And considering that the winner of this game takes on either Colombia or England in the quarter final, they would surely prefer to finish the job on time.
Possible Lineups
Sweden:
Olsen – Lindelof, Granqvist, Lustig, Augustinsson – Svensson, Ekdal, Durmaz, Forsberg – Toivonen, Berg
Switzerland:
Sommer – Schar, Elvedi, Lichtsteiner, Rodriguez – Xhaka, Zakaria, Fernandes, Džemaili, Shaqiri – Embolo
Sweden vs. Switzerland Match Prediction
I reckon that the Swiss are going to dominate the game from the very start, but will they be able to break Sweden’s defense in the 90 minutes remains the question. But, I’m pretty sure Switzerland will get to play in the quarter final of the World Cup.
Sweden vs. Switzerland Betting Tips
- Switzerland @2.70 (bet365)
- Switzerland to Qualify @1.80 (bet365)