Ireland vs Sweden Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Jun 09, 2016 @ 01:14 am

Next Monday, 13th of June 2016, Republic of Ireland will measure forces with Sweden at Stade de France in Paris on Group E opening match of Euro 2016.

Last time out, the Republic of Ireland failed to impress against a well organized Belarus and ended defeated by 2-1. The Irish struggled to cope with Belarus short passing game up front and revealed several problems on the right side of their defensive line. Both Gordeichuk’s and Valadzko’s goals were forged on the left side of Belarus’ attack and exposed the frailties of Cyrus Christie, who played as right back last time out.

It was, nevertheless, Ireland’s first defeat this year and only the third since November 2014. The Irish team pulled off some quality overall performances during their Qualification campaign and have only conceded seven goals along the way, but they need to show a bit more than what they have presented against Belarus if they want to start the tournament off on the right foot.

Robbie Brady and Jon Walters have missed the team’s training sessions due to injury and are doubts for next Sunday’s match. Experienced striker Robbie Keane, who is still recovering from injury, will likely miss the clash against the Swedish.

As for Sweden, after two consecutive draws against Slovenia and the Czech Republic, the Scandinavian team has managed to return to winning ways when they measured forces with Wales last Sunday. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic already on board, the Swedish team pulled off a solid performance and ended up winning the match by 3-0. Emil Forsberg, Mikael Lustig and Celta de Vigo’s versatile forward John Guidetti got their name on the scoresheet and allowed Sweden to claw their second win this year.

For the upcoming match at Stade de France, Sweden’s head coach Erik Hamren will have all his players at his disposal since, so far, there aren’t any names at the injury list.

Similar to what happened to their upcoming opponents, Sweden have only managed to claw a place in the Euro 2016 after overcoming their neighbours of Denmark on the final playoff and they need now to produce some improvements if they want to take something positive from the tournament.

Ireland

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - LDDWW

Sweden

Stats: W-2 L-1 D-2

Recent Form - WDDLW

Possible Line-ups

Ireland (4-4-2) – Given - Coleman - Keogh - Clark - Ward - Gibson - Whelan - Hendrick - McGeady - Long - Murphy

Sweden (4-4-2) – Isakson - Lustig - Granqvist - Johansson - Olson - Lewicki - Kallstrom - Forsberg - Larsson - Ibrahimovic - Berg

Injury List / Suspended Players

Ireland - Keane (in doubt) - Walters (in doubt) - Brady (in doubt)

Sweden - None

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions