France V Sweden
France Preview: Laurent Blanc’s men are topping the group heading into the final day and they will want to stay there, because it means playing Italy and not Spain in the quarter finals. It was a slow start to group D with a draw against England, but France are showing real touches of being a title contender. They are good on the ball and they have the players who can open up defences. The scenario is simple for the French, simply win and they will be topping the group. A draw could leave them in danger of having England overtake them, while if both France and England draw, or they both win, or both lose, then it could come down to goal difference and goals scored. If that happens, then England will have the advantage because of the UEFA co-efficiency. So France are two thirds of the way to winning the group as expected, and now they just need to show the professionalism to get the job done. It should come against Sweden who are probably going to be disinterested as they are out.
FRANCE
France have looked very good in the midfield, and they are able to call on big injections of pace with Franck Ribery, and creativity from the likes of Cabaye and Samir Nasri. They are a very solid unit, defensively sound and that should give them a lot of confidence to go far, because they are capable of doing so. They need just an extra touch of quality from striker Benzema to help them out up front and they would be a major threat. The French are on a 23 match unbeaten streak and that really is nothing to be ignored. They look as if they are also starting to gel even more and get stronger and stronger with each game played. France haven’t played Sweden competitively since back in 1993 and they hold a W8 D L4 record against the Swedes. The ball possession which France are able to dominate is going to be the key to this. If they can open up Sweden early on, then the likelihood is that their job of picking up three points is going to be even easier.
SWEEDEN
Sweden Preview: The Swedes thought themselves unlucky against England in a match which they needed to win to keep their qualification hopes alive. They were 2-1 to the good early in the second half but just couldn’t hang on. After losing against the Ukraine in their opener, Sweden have looked like nothing more than a very average side and one which will probably struggle. They will rely heavily on star player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and while they Swedes showed that they have pretty decent energy, there is a lack of end product. They could cause problems from set pieces, and that may be their best route to goal against a pretty solid and organised looking French defence. It has been a disappointing appearance by the Swedes at Euro 2012, and it could all end up with them heading home without a single point in their possession. They will be unable to match France in the middle of the park, and that is pretty much where the game is going to be lost for them, because they will be on the back foot for too long, and their 4-4-2 formation won’t help them.
SCORE PREDICTION: FRANCE 1 VS SWEEDEN 0
France Preview: Laurent Blanc’s men are topping the group heading into the final day and they will want to stay there, because it means playing Italy and not Spain in the quarter finals. It was a slow start to group D with a draw against England, but France are showing real touches of being a title contender. They are good on the ball and they have the players who can open up defences. The scenario is simple for the French, simply win and they will be topping the group. A draw could leave them in danger of having England overtake them, while if both France and England draw, or they both win, or both lose, then it could come down to goal difference and goals scored. If that happens, then England will have the advantage because of the UEFA co-efficiency. So France are two thirds of the way to winning the group as expected, and now they just need to show the professionalism to get the job done. It should come against Sweden who are probably going to be disinterested as they are out.
FRANCE
France have looked very good in the midfield, and they are able to call on big injections of pace with Franck Ribery, and creativity from the likes of Cabaye and Samir Nasri. They are a very solid unit, defensively sound and that should give them a lot of confidence to go far, because they are capable of doing so. They need just an extra touch of quality from striker Benzema to help them out up front and they would be a major threat. The French are on a 23 match unbeaten streak and that really is nothing to be ignored. They look as if they are also starting to gel even more and get stronger and stronger with each game played. France haven’t played Sweden competitively since back in 1993 and they hold a W8 D L4 record against the Swedes. The ball possession which France are able to dominate is going to be the key to this. If they can open up Sweden early on, then the likelihood is that their job of picking up three points is going to be even easier.
SWEEDEN
Sweden Preview: The Swedes thought themselves unlucky against England in a match which they needed to win to keep their qualification hopes alive. They were 2-1 to the good early in the second half but just couldn’t hang on. After losing against the Ukraine in their opener, Sweden have looked like nothing more than a very average side and one which will probably struggle. They will rely heavily on star player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and while they Swedes showed that they have pretty decent energy, there is a lack of end product. They could cause problems from set pieces, and that may be their best route to goal against a pretty solid and organised looking French defence. It has been a disappointing appearance by the Swedes at Euro 2012, and it could all end up with them heading home without a single point in their possession. They will be unable to match France in the middle of the park, and that is pretty much where the game is going to be lost for them, because they will be on the back foot for too long, and their 4-4-2 formation won’t help them.
SCORE PREDICTION: FRANCE 1 VS SWEEDEN 0
