England face confident Sweden in friendly

Following their whole host of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, England will travel to the Friends Arena in Solna for their international friendly on Wednesday. The last meeting between these two giants was in the UEFA Euro knockout stages, where England walked away with the victory 3-2. Andy Carroll put the English ahead, only for Olof Mellberg to bring the Swedes into the lead courtesy of some poor defending. Theo Walcott equalised and Danny Welbeck delivered the sucker punch as England progressed further in the competition.

Sweden manager Erik Hamren will have revenge on his mind as his side square off on Wednesday against England at home for a late night kickoff.

Sweden:

Erik Hamren’s men come into the fixture with bucket loads of confidence. They have gelled well as a side and justified their high ratings with a 4-4 draw against Germany away. The very fact that they had to come from 4-0 down showed that they are a side that must be taken seriously.

Hamren does not have to worry about injury problems as the entire squad is fit and raring to go. He is however faced with the problem of captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Paris Saint-Germain striker was sent off in the Ligue 1 match against Saint-Etienne. The question is whether he will reconsider his attacking options or will he take his chances with Ibrahimovic. He will have to go with just the one striker if that is the case.

England:

Roy Hodgson seems to be enjoying his time managing the England national team. The three lions have lost just two games under Hodgson’s managerial reign.

Hodgson however, has a long list of injuries which will not bode well for his side, considering the opponent’s given form. Wayne Rooney will be hugely missed as he picked up an ankle injury during the game against Aston Villa. Joining him will be Kyle Walker, Jonjo Shelvey, Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott. Danny Welbeck also might miss due to his lack of first ream action over the past few weeks. Crystal Palace winger Wilfred Zaha has received his first call to the senior squad. Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who impressed with his outstanding display against Barcelona in the Champions League, might be favored ahead of Joe Hart between the sticks.

England are coming off the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw to Poland away, where the match was postponed by a day due to heavy rain. Hodgson will have to go with just the one striker, just like his counterpart Hamren.

Head to Head:

June 16 ’12 Sweden 2-3 England

June 20 ’06 England 2-2 Sweden

June 02′ 02′ England 1-1 Sweden

Sept. 05 98′ Sweden 2-1 England

June 17 92′ Sweden 2-1 England

From Guide :

Sweden (DWWWL)

Oct 16 ’12 Germany 4-4 Sweden

Oct 12 ’12 Fraore Islands 1-2 Sweden

Sept 11 ’12 Sweden 2-0 Khazaksthan

Sept 6 ’12 Sweden 1-0 China PR

Aug 15 ’12 Sweden 0-3 Brazil

England (DWDWW)

Oct 17 ’12 Poland 1-1 England

Oct 12 ’12 England 5-0 San Marino

Sept 11 ’12 England 1-1 Ukraine

Sept 07 “12 Maldova 0-5 England

AUG 15 ’12 England 2-1 Italy

Predicted Line-ups :

Sweden(4-4-2)

Isaksson, Lustig, Granqvist, J,Olsson, Safari, Wernbloom, Elm, Larsson, Ibrahimovic(c) (Kacaniklic), Kalllstrom, Elmander.

England(4-2-3-1)

Hart, Jagielka(Caulker), Cahill, Johnson, Baines, Cleverley, Gerrard(c), Wilshere, Oxalade-Chamberlain, Young(Milner), Defoe(Welbeck).

The X- Factor

Rasmus Elm:

The Swedish midfielder has been in cracking form of late for both CSKA Moscow and in the recent game against Germany that ended 4-4. He played both provider and goal scorer with 2 assists and a goal.

Wilfred Zaha:

The 20 year old Crystal Palace striker has been called up by Hodgson for the Sweden game. Considering the number of injuries he is facing, Hodgson may just consider giving the youngster a run in the first team with Raheem Sterling, Leon Osman and Adam Lallana.