Kevin Kilbane believes England will have to be aware of Sweden’s threat from set-pieces if they are to triumph in their World Cup quarter-final.
Gareth Southgate has named an unchanged starting XI for the clash in Samara as the Three Lions bid to make a World Cup semi-final for the first time in 28 years.
Sweden advanced from a group containing world champions Germany and are considered to be underdogs for the fixture against England.
And Kilbane is expecting a tough afternoon for Southgate’s side against one of the tournament’s most defensively solid teams.
“If you look at the teams man-for-man, England should be winning this game,” Kilbane told Off The Ball.
“If Sweden play 4-4-2 against England today you would imagine it will become a 4-6. One of the centre forwards, either [Ola] Toivonen or [Marcus] Berg will be dropping in a bit deeper trying to leave one or the other up front.
“It’s going to be very much a team that sits back in. Where is the real pace in this side that’s going to hurt England? I don’t see them having a lot of pace.
“Something that their coach has spoken about in the lead up to this game has been set-pieces – that is the way in for Sweden – that is how they are going to win the game.
“They are very good on set-pieces, I think it’s something they’ve worked on in the lead up to the tournament and that is where I feel they may get something out of this match.”
The winners will go on to face Russia or Croatia in the semi-finals before a potential final encounter with either Belgium or France.
James Hopper
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
