SWEDEN VS ENGLAND
Venue: Samara Arena
Date: Saturday, July 7
Kick-off: 3pm
Sweden form: Impressive effort to top the group against the likes of Germany and Mexico. They probably had one of the more balanced last 16 matches and narrowly came through it 1-0 against the Swiss. Emil Forsberg's deflected shot proved to be the winner in a scrappy game.
England form: The Three Lions are on a high after winning a penalty shootout for the first time in their history to see of Colombia in the last 16. England edged past Tunisia and thrashed Panama in their opening two Group G matches before they fell to a 1-0 defeat by Belgium in a dead rubber.
Key match-up: Harry Kane vs Andreas Granqvist
Verdict: England to win 2-0
Colombia vs England Head-to-head
England have a positive head to head record with Colombia. This will be their fourth head to head encounter and the South American outfit are yet to clinch their first victory.
The Three Lions won two and drew one so far, winning also the lone previous H2H affair at World Cups, back in 1998 when Anderton and Beckham bagged goals in a 2-0 victory in the group stage.
The two sides also met each other in a friendly in May 2005 when England picked up a 2-3 victory with a hat-trick from Michael Owen in New Jersey.
Colombia vs England Predictions
The Three Lions showed much more so far in the tournament, but it’s fair to say they’ve had easier rivals en route to securing the knockout stage appearance.
This will be their genuine test and should they pass it successfully, Gareth Southgate and his men have an open way to the semi-final with either Switzerland or Sweden waiting in the last eight.
A lot will certainly depend on whether James Rodriguez will recover for Los Cafetereos.
The Colombians generally struggled badly to create anything up front without James on the pitch.
Bayern’s star will reportedly start from the bench here which should be a major boost for England who are worth backing to qualify to the quarterfinal at the odds of 1.53.
In all, we expect a very tight affair to be decided by a single goal, meaning the alternative betting option would be Under 2.5 goals FT at the odds of 1.50.
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