Sweden aim for first win of Euro 2016 qualifying

As the next round of Euro 2016 qualifiers get under way this week, the pick of the matches on Thursday sees Sweden go up against Russia at the Friends Arena, Solna in Group G.

Sweden managed to reach the play-offs for the World Cup 2014 but were dismissed by Cristiano Ronaldo`s Portugal and will be aiming to go one better and reach the finals of Euro 2016, which is being held in France. Russia, although qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil, will be disappointed by their performance in the finals, failing to win any of their three group games and losing out to Algeria for second place and qualification to the knock-out stages.

Group G is a group that contains six teams, four of which will have aspirations of qualifying, Sweden, Russia, Montenegro and Austria. Russia opened their campaign with a comfortable 4-0 home victory over minnows Liechtenstein, a result which was to be expected. Meanwhile, Sweden were held to a 1-1 draw away at Austria and can not afford to drop any more early points in their quest to qualify for Euro 2016.

The fact Sweden are keen to secure all three points in this one is highlighted by the fact that manager Erik Hamren seems willing to risk the doubtful Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is key to any chances Sweden have of qualifying. The talented Paris Saint-Germain striker is 19/4 with BetVictor to score the first goal of the match and 9/5 with the same firm to score at any time during the game. At the age of 33, it will probably be the last chance for Ibrahimovic to show off his talent at a major tournament and this might provide that little bit of extra incentive for him to start the match and do well. If Ibrahimovic fails to make it, the onus will be on the vastly experienced midfielder Kim Kallstrom to help push his team over the line and he is 17/2 with bet365 to score at any time.

Despite their disappointing early exit in the world cup finals, Fabio Capello remains in control of the Russian team and will therefore be under pressure to deliver qualification. Although strong at home, Russia do tend to struggle when playing away and have conceded goals on the road to Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan in recent games. In fact, Russia have only managed to keep one clean sheet in their last seven away games and Sweden have managed to concede eight goals in their last two competitive home matches, making the evens with SkyBet for both teams to score looking like good value. During the world cup, Capello showed faith in young striker Aleksandr Kokorin and he is 13/2 with bet365 to open the scoring in Solna, with veteran front man Alexandr Kerzhakov 6/1 to do the same.

Although Sweden have lost their last two competitive matches at home, they are still the bookies favourites for this one at 8/5 with SkyBet, something which might be partly due to the Russian`s record on the road more than anything else. As the Swedes only managed to pick up a point away to Austria in their first match, they will not want to lose this one and fall five points behind Russia after only two games. Therefore, the better value may be in the 15/4 with bet365 for the game to finish in a draw with both teams to score. Russia have won just one of their last four away competitive games, including matches in Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan and that does not bode well for this game but they can be backed at 15/8 with paddypower to come away with an unlikely win.

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08/10/2014     © Frixo 2026