Sweden vs. Belgium: Live Stream, Odds and Form Guide for Euro 2016
Belgium and Sweden will meet on Wednesday for their final UEFA Euro 2016 Group E match, with both teams eyeing a second-place finish behind Italy and a ticket to the next round.
The Red Devils bounced back from their 2-0 defeat against the Azzurri with a 3-0 win over a hapless Republic of Ireland, and they'll enter the match as the favourites against a Sweden team that have struggled to create chances.
Star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been kept quiet, and the Swedes have yet to score a goal of their own―Ireland's Ciaran Clark beat his own goalkeeper in their first match.
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Here's everything you need to know for Wednesday's contest.
Time: 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET
Venue: Stade de Nice, Nice, France
Match odds, courtesy of Odds Shark:
| Belgium Win | 63-100 |
| Draw | 5-2 |
| Sweden Win | 4-1 |
Preview
Italy have already locked up the top spot in Group E, thanks to their two wins from two matches so far, but the Belgians find themselves in the driver's seat for a second-place finish, which may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Group F hasn't played out the way fans and pundits expected, with Portugal struggling to create goals, and if Hungary can hold Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mates to a draw or even beat them on Wednesday, Belgium's path to the quarter-finals could become a lot easier, per Football Italia's George Rinaldi:
Coach Marc Wilmots' troops will have to get past Sweden first, but the oddsmakers don't doubt that will happen. The Swedes have been one of the more disappointing units in this year's tournament, serving up a drab performance against Ireland and faring little better against the Azzurri.
Belgium flashed their potential against the Irish, scoring three goals on the counter-attack in the second half to bag their first win of the tournament.
Wilmots made a handful of changes for that match, and Belgian football expert John Chapman thinks he may do so again:
Tottenham Hotspur's Mousa Dembele brought some stability to the midfield unit, but he picked up a knock against Ireland and isn't expected to be fit in time for the Sweden match, according to Belgium outlet Nieuwsblad (h/t HITC Sport's Dan Coombs). In his absence, AS Roma's Radja Nainggolan is expected to return to the starting XI.
Thomas Meunier will likely keep his spot on the right side of the defence after a strong outing against Ireland, and Romelu Lukaku erased any doubts over his spot in the team with two goals against the Irish.
Per Sky Sports, Wilmots was impressed with what he saw from the Everton man:
"With Romelu Lukaku we wanted to give somebody some confidence.
He played a great game. When he missed one opportunity against Italy, people were saying it's all different. I just needed to make sure I trusted him.
He did what I expected today. I prefer he runs hard for 70 minutes and then I can make a substitution.
"
Sweden did a fine job locking down Italy's wide men and forcing the Azzurri to create chances down the centre, but the Belgians will have that exact game plan in their minds going into Wednesday's clash.
They have one of the best attacking midfielders in the world in Kevin De Bruyne, and while the Manchester City man hasn't been at his best so far during Euro 2016, he should have the opportunity to find his form against a Swedish midfield that have struggled.
Per BT Sport's Ian Darke, their inability to create chances for Ibrahimovic and John Guidetti is visible in one key statistic:
Eden Hazard was active against Ireland, and both Yannick Ferreira Carrasco and Dries Mertens proved a handful out wide as well. Add to that Meunier's tendency to run forward, and the Belgians have the numbers out wide to take pressure off De Bruyne, Axel Witsel and Dembele or Nainggolan, freeing them up to dominate the ball in the middle.
Belgium have yet to put together a complete performance, but unless Sweden make a dramatic U-turn and suddenly start playing their best football, the Red Devils should grab their second win and advance to meet the Group F winners in the round of 16.
