On the upcoming Friday within the first matches of the play-offs for the right to play at the 2018 World championship, the national teams of Sweden and Italy will meet. The Italians are considered clear favorites of the encounter although the Swedish national team showed some decent level of football in the past qualification and managed to leave such a strong team as the Netherlands without Mundial. In any case, The Blue-Yellows should not be underestimated.
The Sweden national team has finished 2018 WC in the group A, the team’s opponents were: France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Belarus. After ten matches, the Swedes managed to gain nineteen points to their asset, the same as the Dutchmen, but the Scandinavians became second by secondary indicators. The Sweden national team had a draw at their home ground with the Oranges, 1:1, defeated all other opponents, including the Frenchmen, 2:1.
The Italy national team played in the group G alongside the Spaniards, the Albanians, Israel, Macedonia and Liechtenstein. Twenty three points gained in ten matches, the tournament was lost to the Spaniards and the decisive encounter was held in Madrid on 2nd September. Furia Roja defeated the opponents without any trouble with the score of 3:0. Apart from the misfortune with the Spaniards, the Italy national team has four victories away.
The Italy national team is stronger than the Swedes by squad but the future opponents are of approximately the same level by game organization. Under Ventura, Il Trikolor started playing more aggressively in attack, but the problems in defense started to appear. One may try betting on the hosts in the couple.
Prediction for the match: Sweden not to lose
