Ukraine v Sweden betting is the final match of the first round of group games at Euro 2012. These two nations are both on the fringes of betting, but there could be a surprise to come from the Swedes in particular. Sweden had a very good qualification campaign, beating the Netherlands at a crucial moment to finish as best runner up from all groups and book an automatic place at the finals. The Swedes warmed up with two wins as well, beating Iceland and Serbia, and have won all four of their international friendly matches this season, including an impressive 3-1 away win over Croatia. So there could be a lot to come from the underrated Swedes in Group D, and they may just push France and England hard for a qualification spot into the knock-out stage.
Sweden’s big talisman is of course Zlatan Ibrahimovic who will lead the line of belief for Sweden. The Swedes play a very organised and solid game, and really aren’t that afraid to push forward, and they were one of the highest scoring teams during Euro 2012 qualification. In fact, they netted 31 qualification goals, where England only managed 17. So they are going to be a side to watch out for, and there could be good value in backing them in this opening match, because the bookies have them down as slight outsiders. In such an evenly competitive group, Sweden will really be fancying their chances of getting off to a strong start against the joint host nation, Ukraine.
Sweden v Ukraine Betting Odds at Bet365
Ukraine 6/4, Sweden 2/1, Draw 11/5
Ukraine will be edging things slightly in Sweden v Ukraine betting here, largely because of home support. It will be a sea of yellow and blue and therefore Sweden will feel at home as well, even though it won’t be their fans making up the majority of the crowd. So what have the Ukraine been up to? Of course they haven’t played competitive football for a while, and this will be their first ever competitive meeting against Sweden. In their build up, Ukraine beat Estonia 4-0, but all that confidence went out of the window as they crashed to two defeats. The Ukraine lost 3-2 against Austria and were then humbled easily by Turkey in their final warm up. So they aren’t carrying strong form into the tournament with them, but they could get the extra boost of being hosts of course. Former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko will make his international tournament swansong here, as the veteran tries to help fire the Ukraine into the second round .However, it is hard seeing the competitiveness winning through for them. They will cause the other group opponents some problems, especially at home, because at the end of the day, they don’t completely look strong enough to really compete and a draw may be a well earned result in this opener.
Prediction : The Swedes have scored some impressive results over the last eighteen months and think that they can take this opener. Not going to pass up a Sweden 0 Asian Handicap for 6/5 at Bet365
