Euro 2020 Spain vs Sweden Prediction
Spain vs Sweden is slated for kickoff at 3:00 pm EST on Monday, June 14. This will be the second fixture of Group E. Poland and Slovakia will be playing a few hours earlier at noon. The Spanish are heavy favorites for Group E and hope to gather their fourth European Cup trophy, which would separate them from Germany who also have three first-place finishes.
Sweden, on the other hand, are looking for their first trophy. Realistically, any finish out of the group stage will make the Swedes happy. They have qualified for six European Championships and made it out of the group stage only twice.
Their furthest finish was the semifinals back in 1992. This Spain lineup will see losses from players testing positive for Covid and leave an opportunity for Sweden to start off their Euro campaign right.
Euro 2020: Spain’s Ways to Win
Spain is now without Sergio Busquets who tested positive for coronavirus. This is a significant loss up the middle for La Roja, but the one thing Spain has is depth. This depth may be a double-edged sword as nobody quite knows what eleven will take the field to start, leaving chemistry a question mark.
Without a consistent lineup, Spain might have some difficulty across the back four. Especially without Busquets who sits in front of that backline and controls the tempo of the game, there might be some openings for Sweden to attack. Sweden is no joke of a team and Spain is going to need to maintain communication across their back four and from De Gea in the back, if De Gea even gets the nod.
The attack is where Spain thrives. The Spanish style of football is quick, creative, and full of clever combinations. Luis Enrique’s side is no different. He has quite the tough decision to make in regards to who starts at striker: Morata, Moreno, or Torres.
The pleasure of this decision is they’re all fantastic players. Spain needs to get whoever plays that number nine position involved as often as possible and move the Swedish defense around. Make them communicate and dizzy them with the ball and goals will come.
Euro 2020: Sweden’s Ways to Win
Let’s continue with these Spain vs Sweden predictions and talk about the Scandinavians’ shot at winning this one! Sweden needs to take advantage of the center of the pitch and the lack of chemistry this Spain side has. They’re all top-class players, but they don’t know each other in and out. Busquets is notorious for having Spanish possession move through him. The Swedes should make sure they are man-marking whoever fills that gap, and pressuring them hard.
If they can somehow take Spain out of their comfort zone and give them difficulty building out of the back, they will put themselves in a fantastic position to take away points from this first match. Spain is their toughest competition, but they have the possibility to turn the match in their favor.
Euro 2020: Spain vs Sweden Prediction
Spain is pound for pound the stronger team here, and although they might be sluggish from getting covid vaccines the day of their first match, they are the better team here. They should, and will, come away from this match with three points.
The question is how stable are they in the back? Can they keep a clean sheet throughout this first fixture? If they give up goals, it will only be one, and they will most definitely put away more than that. Spain will miss Busquets, but they will get the job done regardless.
Prediction: Spain 2 Sweden 0
