Euro 2012 Opta Stats: England to be denied by Sweden

England have never beaten Sweden in a competitive encounter (D5 L2)
A 1-0 friendly victory last November at Wembley at least ensures that England have some grasp on what victory over Sweden feels like, however half of the outfield starters from that day aren't in Roy Hodgson's squad and only one of the other five started against France. The Three Lions' tournament Sweden-phobia isn't a historic and dated phenomenon either, as the Scandinavians have frustrated them at two of the last three World Cups.

17 of Sweden's 20 goals at the European Championship have come in the second half of games
And as you might expect given such a pattern's existence, eight of Sweden's last dozen European Championship group games have produced more second-half strikes than first-half goals. Their latest against Ukraine was goalless at the interval, only for the net to ripple three times within 17 minutes of the restart. England's opener with France followed the opposite trajectory, but four of their five European Championship group outings prior to that featured a livelier second half.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored in each of his last four appearances for Sweden
Sweden's captain led by example in putting his team in front and being their standout performer in the 2-1 defeat to Ukraine and was furious with his less impressive colleagues after the match. Following that reaction to underachievement, it is now even more imperative that he is at his best against England. Despite the overblown accusations that he fails to perform against English opposition, Ibrahimovic was superb in the first leg of AC Milan's Champions League knockout clash with Arsenal last season and scored a brace at the Emirates for Barcelona two seasons earlier.

Recommended Bets:
Lay England @ 2.226/5
Back the second half to feature more goals @ 2.3611/8
Back Ibrahimovic to score @ 3.929/10

Click here to read more Opta stats on this encounter