The third and final round of EURO Group D action resumes, Wednesday June 18, with Sweden vs Russia and Spain vs Greece. A win for Sweden will put them in the quarter finals, a draw will also do based on goal difference. A Russia win will get then in. Oddsmakers at BetUS.com have Sweden as +155 favs over Russia +160 with a draw at +225. Get your Sweden vs Russia: UEFA EURO 2008 Prediction in now at BetUS.com
Sweden shutout Greece 2-0 in their opener and then lost to Spain 1-2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has two goals for his nation after going on a three year international goalless drought and Petter Hansson is the other goal scorer. This match against Russia is going to come down to the health of Ibrahimovic who only lasted 45 minutes against Spain after his knee began to swell. Sweden coach Lars Lagerback believes he’s good to go, “Zlatan had some sensation of pain in his knee, we had a brief discussion with our medical team and although he probably could have been able to play a few more minutes, it was decided that it was better to take him off than risk making the injury worse.” Markus Rosenberg replaced Ibrahimovic. The good thing about having Zlatan on the field is he ties up players as they are drawn to him because of his scoring capabilities, if he’s off the pitch their opponents don’t need to focus on the sub as much.
Russia lost their EURO opener to Spain 1-4 but they turned their frowns upside down with a win over Greece 1-0. Konstatin Zurianov and Roman Pavluchenko are the lone scorers for the Russians. Now they must win if they want to keep their EURO hopes alive. "We have one game left and it will be as tough and nerve-racking as the Greece match. But, obviously, we are in better spirits now than we were after we played Spain." said Coach Guus Hiddink. But good news, Russia can unlock their most dangerous weapon from their arsenal when playmaker Andrei Arshavin returns from suspension. “Arshavin is a footballer who can make something out of nothing” Coach Guus Hiddink said. “ He can score from anywhere. It's very useful for our team.” Despite his praise Coach doesn’t know if he’ll start him or sub him in. He hasn’t played since June 4th and may be rusty; he might not be in good enough condition to last 90 minutes. If he does start he’ll likely play behind striker Roman Pavlyuchenko which means they’ll have to drop a midfielder, possibly Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who looked tired against Greece and he picked up a slight injury. Get your Sweden vs Russia: UEFA EURO 2008 Prediction in now
Head to Head: 5 matches played
- Sweden leads 3-0
- 2 matches ended in a draw
- Sweden scored 11 goals
- Russia scored 5 goals
Group D: Sweden vs Russia
When: Wed, June 18, 2008 2:45 PM ET
Line: BetUS.com
Pick: Sweden +155
Point-Spreads.com Sweden vs Russia: UEFA EURO 2008 Prediction – Sweden +155
The Bottom Line: Sweden are the favs, but the big question is will Ibrahimovic last the game? Also how will Russian superstar Andrei Arshavin perform? Sweden is 3-0 against Russia, so you have to go with the favs. Get your Sweden vs Russia: UEFA EURO 2008 Prediction in now at BetUS.com and receive a 50% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit!
