Sweden vs Ukraine Prediction & Betting Tips - Euro

Prediction published on 25/06/2021, 23:26  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 25/06/2021 at 23:26 in Euro Predictions

Sweden and Ukraine had very different fortunes at the group stage and as they face off in the round of 16, both will be hoping to secure a quarter finals slot. This seems like the easiest of the pairings for this stage and either side will love it. Sweden combined grit in defence and fluidity in attack to top a group that had Spain, Slovakia and Poland, drawing with Spain and winning the final two matches to pick the most points in a Euros group stage in their history. In their last three euro campaigns, Sweden have been eliminated at the group stages, yet here, they have the chance to get to the quarters. It is a chance they’ll relish and they’ve had a good run in 2021, and are still unbeaten this calendar year, with seven wins and a draw in their eight matches. Emil Forsberg has been among their key players and with four goals in his last four games, he will definitely attract a lot of interest here. He scored a brace against Poland in their last group game, and while they seemed headed for a draw, another key player, Viktor Claesson popped up with the winner in the final minute.

This might have seemed like a matching draw, on paper, but when stats are put in focus, Ukraine do not match Sweden at all. Andriy Shevchenko’s men have won just three of their nine matches in 2021 and in the last 16 matches, they’ve managed four wins. They haven’t kept a clean sheet in the current Euro tournament, and their only win came against minnows North Macedonia. That happens to be their only win at the Euros in the last eight matches, and they’ve lost all the rest, so this is their first time ever to get out of the group stages. Their first ever win at the Euros, back in 2012, was over Sweden with Shevchenko scoring a brace in the 2-1 win, and they will be hoping for a repeat here. It wasn’t a stroll in their group; they were impressive in the latter stages of their game against the Netherlands, but were beaten 3-2. They did manage a 2-1 win over Macedonia but then fell 1-0 to Austria in a game they were limited to just one shot on target. Generally, they’ve been underwhelming, despite the wealth in talent at Shevchenko’s disposal.