Euro 2012 Opta Stats: Sweden to dent Ukraine's hopes

The Swedes have won their opening group stage game at the last two Euros (5-0 v Bulgaria in 2004, 2-0 v Greece in 2008)
This is one of several Opta insights pointing towards Sweden enjoying a minor upset against the co-hosts on Monday. Another is that the last three tournament stagers have swiftly dampened home hopes by opening with a defeat, while only two of the last 14 European Championship debutants - Ukraine are the sole newcomers at this edition - have marked their emergence with a win.

Sweden netted in all ten of their qualifiers for Euro 2012, scoring more than once in eight of these games
Failure to qualify for the last World Cup saw Lars Lagerback's lengthy spell as Sweden coach ended, and one of the main things that successor Erik Hamren has been complimented on is implementing a more attacking style, the above statistic being evidence of its success. Captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the undoubted star of the attack, but the likes of Ola Toivonen, Sebastian Larsson and injury-battling Johan Elmander are all capable of contributing.

Sweden benefited from seven goals scored by substitutes in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, more than any other side
Strength in depth in forward areas and a coach with a knack of making game-changing interventions which exploit those talents are also evidently key reasons for their prolificacy. Five different players contributed to the aforementioned tally, among them Tobias Hysen and Andreas Granqvist, and it is a habit so recurrent that they have to be fancied to score the match's last goal, as they did in 70% of their Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Recommended Bets:
Back Sweden to win @ 3.185/40
Back Sweden to score two or more @ 3.55/2
Back Sweden to score last @ 2.47/5

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