Sweden - Switzerland (9pm): Hardly many goals
Qualifying for the knockout stage is a success for both Sweden and Switzerland. At 9pm on July 3, the two teams will meet at Saint Petersburg Stadium to compete for a place in the quarter-finals.
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| Shaqiri - Switzerland's hope in the confrontation with Sweden - Photo: REUTERS |
Despite qualifying at the top of Group F, which includes defending champions Germany, Sweden is not highly regarded in this year's tournament. There are many reasons why Sweden is not highly regarded: the squad does not have many stars and is in a rejuvenation phase.
In addition, Sweden's long ball and cross-header style of play is too old to surprise opponents, especially teams with a defensive style of play like Switzerland.
Meanwhile, despite their excellent performance in holding championship candidate Brazil to a draw on the opening day, Switzerland is not considered one of the teams that can cause surprises at the 2018 World Cup.
The reason why Switzerland is not highly rated is because the team does not have any outstanding stars and is not good at attacking. Switzerland only plays well when facing strong teams and is ranked as the underdog. When facing teams with similar strength, they immediately show that they are an average team.
In this match, both teams are also without their strongest squads due to suspensions. Sweden is missing star attacker Sebastian Larsson, while Switzerland is missing two defenders Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schar.
With similar long ball play, this match is considered to be very balanced and unlikely to have many goals. Experts say this will be a physical match and whichever team takes advantage of the opportunity will have a better chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
