Sweden v Switzerland tips: Are the Swedes being underestimated again?
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Sweden and Switzerland clash in the penultimate last-16 clash for a place in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Sweden haven’t qualified for the last-eight of a major tournament since 1994. And the odds suggest it could be another repeat scenario here.
Janne Andersson’s side are 2/1 to win over 90-minutes. Switzerland are 17/10, while the draw is available at 19/10.
That suggests a tight game. And games between fellow European nations in World Cup knockouts certainly tend to go that way. In fact, over 60% of them since 1990 have gone Under 2.5 Goals.
In terms of team news, Switzerland have a couple of key absentees at the back. Stephan Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schar miss out through suspension. Johan Djourou and Michael Lang will step in.
For Sweden, Sebastian Larsson misses out with Gustav Svensson replacing him in midfield. Oddly enough, this is the first time the two nations will have played each other at a major tournament.
Both sides have surprised in Russia in different ways. Switzerland were known for being defensively sound and winning games by the odd goal. But Die Nati have conceded in every game so far, including two against the blunted Costa Rica.
They have scored five themselves, however, and look dangerous going forward. Sweden were expected to struggle in Group F. But Andersson’s side won two of their three group games and were unlucky not to get a point against Germany.
Sweden will be comfortable being the underdogs. It will suit their style. They’ll sit in a low block, look to crowd the Swiss out then transition into quick counter-attacks.
We probably shouldn’t expect a high-scoring affair here. Under 2.5 Goals is 4/9, with Under 1.5 Goals at 7/5. The First-Half Result – Draw is 5/6.
VAR has been a notable feature of Sweden’s games against both South Korea and Mexico. It’s 13/8 that any refereeing decision is overturned using VAR.
Xherdan Shaqiri is the obvious goal-scoring threat for Switzerland. The Stoke City ace scored the winner against Serbia to make it five career World Cup goals.
He’s 7/4 to score Anytime and 10/1 to score from outside the box. For Sweden, Emil Forsberg will be on set-piece duty in Larsson’s absence. The RB Leipzig star is 7/2 to bag Anytime and 14/1 to crack one in from outside the box.
Click here for the latest Sweden v Switzerland odds
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
