Euro 2020: Sweden vs Slovakia Preview

Euro 2020: Sweden vs Slovakia Preview

Early group leaders Slovakia face 3rd place Sweden in St Petersburg live on BBC One at 2pm this afternoon. A win for Slovakia will see them qualify for the knockout stages, while a victory for Sweden will keep their hopes of qualifying alive.

Despite just 15% possession against Spain in their 0-0 draw on Monday, Sweden put in a fantastic defensive display showing great discipline off the ball to maintain a dangerous Spanish side. 21-year-old, Real Sociedad striker, Alex Isak showed glimpses of why he is regarded as one of football’s hottest prospects despite having little to no service throughout the match.

Slovakia provided one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far, beating 10-man Poland by 2 goals to 1. With no injury worries, it is expected that manager Pavel Hapal will name an unchanged side from the game against Poland.

Sweden Predicted XI: Olsen; Lustig, Lindelof, Danielson, Augustinsson; S Larsson, Ekdal, Olsson, Forsberg; Isak, Berg

Slovakia Predicted XI:  Dubravka; Pekarik, Satka, Skriniar, Hubocan; Kucka, Hromada; Haraslin, Hamsik, Mak; Duda

??: NORDIC MATCHDAY!

Nothing is certain in Group E, a tough group with four strong teams. But Sweden have already held off Spain and maybe today it's time to switch defence into attack!

It's Sweden vs Slovakia (14:00 KO GMT) pic.twitter.com/XylK42mBPp

— Nordic Footy ??????? (@footy_nordic) June 18, 2021

Match Facts

Head-to-head

• This is the first time these 2 teams will meet at a major tournament.
• Sweden are unbeaten in all 5 of their previous games against Slovakia, winning 2 and drawing 3.
• The last time the 2 sides faced each other was a friendly in October 2018 where it ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

Slovakia

• Slovakia are unbeaten in their last 6 games. Their longest unbeaten run since 2016.
• After failing to score in his first 37 appearances for Slovakia, defender Milan Skriniar has scored 3 times in his last 4.

Sweden

• Sweden are also unbeaten in their last 6 games, having won 5 of them.
• Including their 0-0 draw with Spain, the Swedes have failed to score in their last 3 European Championship matches.

?? Key man for Slovakia = ________#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/9YhGdRcKjU

— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 18, 2021

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