The top two teams in World Cup Qualifying Group A clash at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on Friday, second-placed Sweden host group leaders France. The two teams are separated by just three points, so Sweden could move at the top of the group with a win. France won the reverse fixture 2-1 last year, with Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet scoring to turn things around after Emil Forsberg had opened the scoring for Sweden. The two teams have met at the 2012 European Championships and Sweden won 2-0 but failed to qualify from the group stage.
Sweden have done well so far in their World Cup Qualifying campaign, especially since they were coming from a poor showing at the 2016 European Championships. They have only lost one of their five matches so far, against France, and recorded a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in the opening match of the campaign. The fight for qualification is far from over, as both Bulgaria and Holland can threaten Sweden's current second place. Star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still injured and is not part of the squad for this match.
France are the only unbeaten team in the group after five matches, even though they started the campaign with a very disappointing goalless draw in Belarus. They recovered with a 4-1 victory over Bulgaria and a 1-0 triumph in Holland and if they beat Sweden again they will further consolidate their place at the top of the group table. Last week they recorded a 5-0 friendly win over Paraguay and Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick. Left-back Layvin Kurzawa is the only major absence for head coach Didier Deschamps.
Probable line-ups:
Sweden: Olsen - Lustig, Lindelof, Granqvist, Olsson - Durmaz, Ekdal, Hiljemark, Forsberg - Toivonen, Berg
France: Lloris - Sidibe, Varane, Koscielny, Mendy - Matuidi, Pogba - Sissoko, Griezmann, Payet - Giroud
My prediction: France to win 1-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Sweden win - 4.75
Draw - 3.50
France win - 1.75
06/11/17, 05:06:16 PM
