Sunday, November 13th, 2011
England will be hoping to build on their encouraging victory against Spain (1-0) as Sweden come to Wembley on Tuesday for a friendly fixture. John Terry looks set to return as captain despite Frank Lampard’s goal scoring leadership on Saturday.
England’s win against the world champions was built on a big defensive display, particularly by Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott. However England boss Fabio Capello looks set to try different combinations against the Swedes with probable starts for John Terry and Gary Cahill. Kyle Walker is set to play right-back and Daniel Sturridge and Bobby Zamora should also play up front. For Sturridge, this will be his first outing in an England shirt and is a reward for a series of solid performances for the young Chelsea striker.
The Swedes had a good result against world cup finalists Holland in October, with a 3-2 victory securing their spot in UEFA Euro 2012 as best group runners up. Unfortunately since then they went down 2-0 to Denmark in last Friday’s friendly. Although this is the 22nd meeting between the two sides, it is the first time that Sweden has been to the new Wembley stadium. The record so far stands at 6 wins each with 9 draws, including the last meeting between the pair in the 2006 world cup (2-2).
Sweden present a solid defensive challenge and once again it is a chance for the other England strikers to press their claims for a starting place while Wayne Rooney is absent. Fulham’s Zamora will be looking to impress, but is only one of a band of young pretenders who have come onto the scene since the disappointing performance of England at the South African world cup.
Another confident performance by England, especially if they can build some attacking threat to go with a solid defence, sees them as favourites for Tuesday’s friendly.
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