Sweden vs Ukraine

Hampden Park is the venue as Sweden and Ukraine go head-to-head in a somewhat unexpected Euro 2020 Round-of-16 encounter.

Viktor Claesson’s 94th-minute strike against Poland was enough to give Sweden a 3-2 victory and a top place in Group E, helping them preserve an unbeaten record at Euro 2020 (W2, D1). Janne Andersson’s men have proved to be a water-tight defensive unit of late, conceding an average of just 0.38 goals across their last eight international fixtures. In fact, six matches during that spread of games yielded a clean sheet, including two group stage encounters against Spain and Slovakia! Of all the sides to reach the knock-out phase, Sweden had the lowest average possession rate (29.6%) in the group stage, though their conversion rate of 44% remains second only to Portugal. But the ‘Blågult’ found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline the last time they met Ukraine at a major tournament (Euro 2020), with the Ukrainians’ current boss Andriy Shevchenko scoring a brace in that showdown.

On the other hand, despite losing two of their three group stage matches (W1), Ukraine finished as the fourth ‘third-best’ side on goal difference, having scored over 1.5 goals in two of their three games in Group C. Seeking victory in their first-ever Euro knock-out appearance as a sovereign nation, Shevchenko’s men will have to step up defensively after failing to keep a clean sheet in each of their three Euro 2020 matches so far. The Ukrainians cannot find much comfort in their overall European Championship record either, having won just two of their nine games at the tournament whilst losing the other seven. Yet, they can take some confidence from avoiding defeat in three of their four international meetings with Sweden overall (W2, D1).

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