Sweden meet Ukraine in the concluding Round of 16 tie at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, as both teams look to complete the Euro 2020 Quarter-Final lineup.
Sweden advanced to this stage as Group E winners whereas Ukraine qualified by virtue of finishing as one of the four best third-placed teams.
Team News
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Sweden have no fresh injury concerns to report after defeating Poland 3-2 in their final Group E match last Wednesday.
Ukraine meanwhile could be without Viktor Tsyhankov and Oleksandr Zubkov as the pair struggle to shake off calf injuries.
Stat Attack
- Sweden lost their only previous clash against Ukraine 2-1 at Euro 2012 in Group D.
- Ukraine have lost just one of four previous meetings against Sweden in all competitions (W3, L1).
- Two of Emil Forsberg’s three goals for Sweden at Euro 2020 has been scored on his right foot.
- Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk have scored all four of Ukraine’s goals at Euro 2020 between them with two goals apiece.
- Only five players from their Euro 2012 clash currently feature at Euro 2020 with Sweden retaining Andreas Granqvist, Mikael Lustig and Seb Larsson, whilst only Andriy Pyatov and Andriy Yarmolenko survive for Ukraine.
Prediction
Sweden come into this game in strong form because they have been excellent defensively this tournament coupled with an impressively well-balanced attack to boot, although they will be keen to make amends for their second half defensive switch-off against Poland.
Ukraine meanwhile just lacked the creative edge to secure the runner-up spot in Group C ahead of Austria, which should make this game interesting because they have an excellent all-round style but haven’t defensively been complete in their performances.
On that note, I am anticipating a scrappy contest between two seemingly well matched teams but given Sweden’s balanced quality, I fancy them to have the edge if can deliver a strong performance on the front foot.
Prediction: Sweden 1-0 Ukraine
