The spots in the quarter finals of the World Cup will be filled on Tuesday when the final two last 16 matches take place out in Russia. They begin with a tight looking clash between Sweden and Switzerland in St Petersburg.
Sweden made it this far by winning their group in dramatic fashion last week while Switzerland were good enough to follow Brazil through Group E and they will be looking to continue following them into the quarter finals.
Sweden
I have found the Swedes to be a little difficult to work out in this tournament. On the face of it they set up quit defensively but they were seconds away from being unbeaten in their group stage and the way they opened up Mexico suggests that I might have got them all wrong from the start. They also showed a ruthless streak which could serve them well here.
The only two goals Sweden have conceded were the brace that Germany got against them and one of them was a world class strike so actually when you assess them on what we have seen so far, not only are they worthy of their place in this last 16 clash but they hold claims for being one of the most effective sides in the tournament.
Switzerland
The Swiss have been much more forward thinking in this tournament than I expected them to be when the competition began. They have scored five goals in the tournament and are yet to be beaten although they might be a little disappointed that they couldn’t beat Costa Rica last time out. That said there were much harder last 16 ties on paper at least.
Switzerland haven’t been as tight at the back as I would have expected them to be. Whether that is a result of the tournament being a really offensive one so far or a lack of quality in their back line I’m unsure but they miss a couple of key men in this one which won’t serve them well. They might need to adopt the attack being the best form of defence option here.
Team News
Sweden will be forced into one change as Hull City midfielder Sebastian Larsson is suspended having picked up a couple of bookings in the group. Gustav Svensson of the Seattle Sounders is expected to replace him. Andreas Granqvist is expected to play despite his wife being due to give birth on the same day as the match.
Fabian Schar and Stephan Lichtsteiner are both missing this match as they too have been suspended for picking up a brace of yellow cards. Johan Djourou could replace Schar while Michael Lang is expected to cover for Lichtsteiner.
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Betting
I think this has the potential to be a tight game, especially with both sides seeing the opportunity that is in front of them but if there is going to be a winner inside the 90 minutes than I fancy it could well be Sweden.
So far in this round of matches five out of the six group winners have progressed and I fancy Sweden might make it six out of seven. These two look evenly matched but the two defensive suspensions that Switzerland have could be the difference. Sweden took care of Italy in knockout football to make it here and finished above the Netherlands in their qualifying group and we saw them demolish Mexico last week. They shouldn’t be underestimated here so I’ll back the Swedes without the draw in play.
Tips
WON – Back Sweden to beat Switzerland (DNB) for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with BetVictor
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