Germany v Sweden Betting Preview – World Cup 2018 23rd June – 7.00 p.m
(Full time: 2:1 – goals: Reus 48′, Kroos 95′ – Toivonen 32”)
Original Quotation: Gary Lineker, interviewed, July 4th 1990: “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.”
New quotation, Gary Lineker via twitter, June 23rd 2018: “Football is a simple game, 22 men chase the ball for 82 minutes and the Germans get a player sent off so 21 men chase the ball for 13 minutes and at the end the Germans somehow fucking win.”
Not many punters would have expected to see Germany in this situation. They lost their Group F opener against Mexico as the reigning World Champions had a bad day at the office with trouble in coping with the pace and directness of the Central Americans. Now they need to produce three points to get themselves back into the race and that may not be too easy against a Sweden side who would be happy to collect a point out of this.
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Germany News and Form
Germany are under a bit of pressure at the moment. They are only W1 D2 L3 in their last six games now after losing against Mexico in their World Cup 2018 opener. That was the biggest shock of the first round of group stage matches. The lone win they have posted in their last six games was a hard fought 2-1 success over Saudi Arabia. Things aren’t quite there for Germany at the moment, they just don’t look quite as sharp as you would expect them to be.
That’s three losses in their last four games now and the reigning World Champions have to sort this out pronto. They saw plenty of the ball against Mexico but they were pretty poor in the final third of the pitch and in none of their last five games have they managed more than one goal in a game. Both teams to score at bet365 is at 21/20 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from June 21st, 2018 at 00:21 a.m.) and for our Germany v Sweden predictions that looks like a very solid option.
Germany have their threats going forward, they have tremendous creativity in their ranks as well. Timo Werner is the 15/4 first goalscorer favourite* (Betting Odds were taken from June 21st, 2018 at 00:21 a.m.) for this one and they need to get him better service. While the goals haven’t been flowing for them, they have also been struggling at the back as they have conceded in each of their last seven games. So they are feeling the heat at the moment and in the bet365 correct score market you have a 5/1 option on a Germany 1-0. However if you are backing the Germans then a 2-1 option at 15/2* (Betting Odds were taken from June 21st, 2018 at 00:21 a.m.) offers more appeal in our Germany v Sweden predictions. They are one of the best sides in the world still, they cruised through qualification, but it’s just gone wrong in the last few months for them. Can they survive this test?
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Sweden will have a bit of wind in their sails as they have three points from beating South Korea. They did need a penalty kick to secure their 1-0 victory though but they won’t care about that at the end of the day and they didn’t have a shot on target against them the entire match. Through their World Cup qualification campaign Sweden were scoring for fun, but things have quieted down since knocking Italy out of the play offs. Sweden have scored in just one of their last four games and in none on their last nine matches have they produced more than one goal in a game (W2 D4 L3). Their converted penalty against South Korea is their only goal in their last four games but they will have looked at the recent weaknesses that have been showing up in the Germany defence and be thinking that they can produce. A draw in the game means that they will finish above the Germans no matter what, while a win for them would see them secure a place in the round of sixteen. A Sweden-Draw Double Chance is at 2/1 odds with bet365* (Betting Odds were taken from June 21st, 2018 at 00:21 a.m.).
Germany v Sweden Head to Head
The last two games between these two have produced sixteen goals in total. Those were World Cup 2014 qualifiers with the first game-ending 4-4 after Germany had been 4-0 ahead and then out in Sweden there was a 5-3 win for Die Mannschaft. It would be great to see another game like either of those. Germany have never lost to Sweden, winning five and drawing two of their previous seven meetings.
Germany v Sweden Betting Odds*
Germany 2/5
Draw 4/1
Sweden 8/1
* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on June 21st, 2018 at 00:21 a.m.)
Germany v Sweden Predictions
Sweden may be good enough to dig in there and defend and battle their way to a share of the spoils in this one. Germany have been struggling for clean sheets and they were far from their usual clinical selves against Mexico. The Swedes are not a side in great form but they may be able to avoid defeat here and so our main option in Germany v Sweden predictions is a Sweden-Draw Double Chance.
