World Cup qualifying resumes this week with a whole slew of games. On Friday, the top two teams in UEFA’s Group A square off in Solna as Sweden welcomes France. The French lead the way with 13 points through five games played, while Sweden is next with 10 points, but Bulgaria is hot on their heels with nine points and have a favorable game against Belarus on Friday as well. Sweden will be aiming to not drop points, but the French are a very strong team.
What You Need To Know About Sweden
Sweden has won their last three matches, a 6-0 friendly win at home over Slovakia, a 4-0 win over Belarus in qualifying in March that was also at home, and then they went to Portugal and won 3-2 in a friendly in March. Emil Forsberg scored twice for Sweden in that win over Belarus, and he is coming off a very good season with Red Bull Leipzig in Germany. Sweden has shown the ability to get forward, that shouldn’t be a problem, but they looked a little out of sorts against Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal as the Real Madrid star scored once, and Sweden also scored an own goal. France won’t be any easier than Portugal.
What You Need To Know About France
The French got off to a slow start in qualifying with a 0-0 draw in Belarus, but they have won four straight in qualifying since, and they recently routed Paraguay 5-0 in a friendly. Even in a 2-0 loss to Spain at home in a friendly, France put out a weakened team and held their own. Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud have combined for seven goals in 2017 for their country, with five coming from Giroud, and they should be able to dominate midfield with Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Blaise Mutuidi. But like Sweden, France has questions that need to be answered at the back as Laurent Koscielny battled injuries down the stretch for Arsenal, and both Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti are prone to mistakes at the worst possible time.
World Cup Qualifying: Sweden vs. France. Outlook
France has won three and drawn one of their last five with Sweden since 2005, including a 2-1 win in Paris back in November. Forsberg scored from a free kick to give Sweden the lead, but Pogba and Dmitri Payet (who crossed for Pogba’s goal) gave the hosts a tough three points. Sweden hasn’t lost in five matches in Solna since the beginning of 2016, and they’re a well-drilled team that tends not to beat themselves (you can forget about the own goal against Portugal, it was a friendly and those things happen sometimes). France is definitely the more talented team, but if they don’t come out to play against Sweden, they won’t win and the game in Paris taught them that. This seems like it should be a draw with a point going to each team, or France could win it late; keep an eye on Giroud, who has been great lately for both Arsenal and France, especially as a substitute.
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