Euro 2008
2008-06-14 - Sweden vs Spain
A Sports Betting Pick by chappers
EURO 2008
Innsbruck, June 14 1700 BST
Sweden FIFA Rank 30th
Sweden had it hard when they played Greece in the first game as they struggled to break them down, and it got a wonder goal to break the deadlock, but the good news for them is I don’t think we Spain and Russia to come they will face teams who set up that way so it should be better games for the rest of the finals for them.
Now with already having the three points in the bag along with Spain they know that defeat here would not be the end of the world, but of course a victory would see them into the last eight with a game to spare so while it's not a must win game for them it is one that they would love to win and book their place in the knockout stages.
Spain FIFA Rank 4th
Great finishing by Spain when they played Russia saw them win 4-1 and a superb hat trick by Villa helped make it possible. As I’ve said on the other preview, Russia where not awful for me and had some good chances of their own, but at this level if you don’t take your chances then you are going to lose games. Spain on the other hand has a great strike force in Torres and Villa and to be honest are still my favourites to win these finals, even if the Dutch are seemingly unstoppable at the moment.
Like Sweden, Spain know that while three points is not a must it would see them make the next stage and unlike Sweden the Spanish still have to play Greece and will not want to go into that game having to win as Greece already showed when they played Sweden that they are a hard team to breakdown and the last thing the Spanish want is to find themselves 0-0 with ten minutes or so to go and have the pressure that goes with it.
Verdict
Both teams don’t need to win this game as even a defeat will see them having something to play for in the last game of the group stages, but of course a win for either puts them through so I think that this could be a good game and with the strikers on show, I think that goals could be the order of the day.
Villa already has three goals and with Torres are quite a forward line and then you look at Sweden with Ibrahimovic and even the aging Larsson means that while I think Spain will win the match, I think the better value is in the over 2.5 goals as both team are more than capable of getting goals.
With overs being priced @ 2.37 then you should have interest in this game all the way through and with some luck the goals will go flying in from all angles.
The Pick :
Over 2.5 goals
