World Cup Preview – Quarter-Final | Sweden v England

England look to book a place in the World Cup semi-finals as they face Sweden on Saturday.

The Three Lions have not been to the last four of a World Cup since Italia ’90 and they will be looking to add to that record in Samara.

Gareth Southgate’s side needed penalties to overcome Colombia and they are anticipating a tough clash against Sweden, who have overcome the likes of Holland, Italy and Germany to get to this stage.

“It’s a great opportunity, and although our team will be individually better in two years, we might not have this opportunity again,” said Southgate.

“We have huge respect for Sweden. They are a team that I think in the past have been underestimated – we won’t make that mistake,” added manager Southgate.

“Our players come from the same background as their players. We shouldn’t get carried away with ourselves being better than Sweden. They are older, more experienced, and have a better tournament record than us.”

Swedish boss Janne Andersson insists his side respect England but they have no intention of going home yet.

“We all work so hard for each other on and off the pitch. We know that we are a good team and that we have earned our successes,” he said.

“We’re all very happy about the successes we have seen so far. But we need to digest this quickly as we have another game coming up soon, on Saturday.

“It’s all about the process right now and it’s full steam ahead for us. We’re not satisfied with what we’ve done – we want to win the next match too.”

See below for a preview on the games, including predictions from former England and Tottenham midfielder Andy Gray and our own Football Insider Graeme Bailey and bet365’s Steve Freeth.

Sweden 15:00 England
Samara Arena, Samara

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS:
Sweden: Robin Olsen; Emil Krafth, Victor Lindelöf, Andreas Granqvist, Ludwig Augustinsson; Viktor Claesson, Sebastian Larsson, Albin Ekdal, Emil Forsberg; Marcus Berg, Ola Toivonen

England: Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire; Kieran Trippier, Dele, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young; Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane

KEY FACT: These teams have met 23 times in history and they share seven wins apiece and nine draws
Match odds from bet365: SWEDEN 19/5 DRAW 9/4 ENGLAND 19/20
bet365 Pick: Both Teams to Score @6/5
ANDY SAYS: Close call, a really tough game for sure but I think England will just about do it…0-1
GRAEME SAYS: I’m not convinced England can win this, I think it goes to penalties and then anyone can win…1-1
FOOTBALLIndex – One to follow:Harry Kane – he is the one world-class player on show and still has value on the Index

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