England v Sweden Spread Betting Preview
Although England haven’t beaten Sweden since 1968, Sven has stated his desire to end this run as part of his legacy to the team. Sporting Index fancy his chances of doing it, with England priced up as favourites to win by 0.3 to 0.5 goals. The Total Goals spread of 2.3 to 2.5 is quite low though, probably in anticipation of a draw; all England need to top the group.
Sweden need a point to guarantee their place in the last 16, and except for Ibrahimovic (injured) they’ve got a full strength team. Four of their players are on one yellow card, including both strikers (Allback and Larsson). Elsewhere, Wilhelmsson and attacking midfielder Kim Kallstrom provide Sweden with further threats.
England will start Rooney and Owen together, with Crouch rested and Gerrard replaced by Hargreaves. This will give Lampard the freedom to do what he does best, and he’ll be worth watching as he tries to give himself a birthday present - he’s 28 on the day. Finally, ref Massimo Busacco is a well-regarded Swiss official but has already shown a red card in this tournament. He produced two yellows and a straight red against Ukraine when they were routed by Spain. He was also the ref that sent Rooney off in England’s 1-0 loss to Northern Ireland in the qualifiers. Sporting expect at least five cards, which sounds high but there have been a lot shown so far…
Hopefully that’s given you something to think about. For all the latest prices and to apply for your Sporting Index account, click here