The French have one foot in the quarter-finals and will face
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the eliminated Swedes in their last group match. Sweden may be out of the
running but they're going to try and go out with pride as they take on France.
The Swedes are big underdogs at +475 at Bovada, with the
French at -160 and a draw listed at +280 on the soccer odds board.
A total of 2.5 goals has been set, a majority of the action
coming in on the OVER.
France have returned as a contender
A 2-0 win over co-host Ukraine all but sealed France's spot
in the quarter-finals.
Goals came from Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye, but Karim
Benzema was excellent throughout and picked up the assists for both.
The French defense, after looking shaky versus England, made
a much better impression against Andriy Shevchenko and the Ukrainians, holding
their ground and keeping the hosts without a goal. They dealt with the crowd
well.
Sweden will feel hard done by to be out of the competition,
but that's what happens when you throw away leads.
After choking up a 1-0 lead over Ukraine and losing in the
opener, the Swedes had a chance to make amends as they were up 2-1 on England,
with Olof Mellberg scoring and Glen Johnson getting an own goal.
Zlatan and company just couldn't hold onto the lead. Theo
Walcott and Danny Welbeck scored the goals for the Brits that would send Sweden
crashing out.
That said, pride is a dangerous thing in all sports and
Sweden, a country which is well-represented in terms of fan support in this
tournament, will be a tough team to beat on Tuesday.
Ibrahimovic is who everyone is looking to, but the Swedes
have a few other playmakers, namely Rasmus Elm, Kim Kallstrom and Seb Larsson
who have all shown promising things.
Look for a great attacking display
Scoring goals hasn't really been an issue for this team
though – the lack of defensive discipline has been.
Giving up three goals to an England team missing Wayne
Rooney isn't a good sign, especially with France next on tap.
Benzema, Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri are all capable of
amazing moments. We could also see cameos from Chelsea midfielder Florent
Malouda as well as Olivier Giroud, Hatem Ben Arfa, Mathieu Valbuena and Marvin
Martin.
The thing about Benzema is that even if he isn't scoring,
he's always creating chances for others, just like he did against Ukraine.
Laurent Blanc has predicted that the Real Madrid frontman will score against
the Swedes and we wouldn't be flabbergasted if that holds true. Benzema is a special
talent, no doubt about it.
Nasri and Ribery have been influential as well and would
both be solid betting options to get on the scoresheet on Tuesday.
We've seen some nice free-flowing play out of both teams in
this tournament. Given Sweden doesn't have anything other than pride to play
for, there should be a lot of risks taken, which should open up space to
exploit on both ends. The Swedes are going to try and put on a show for their
fans.
France and Sweden can both create scoring opportunities out
of nothing, Ibrahimovic and Nasri especially, and so we like the OVER play for
this final Group D encounter.
FREE
Pick:
OVER 2.5 goals