Prediction: Mexico vs Sweden

Prediction: Draw

Best Odds: 23/10

Bookmaker: bet365

Coming into the World Cup it felt like Germany were going to walk through their group with minimal difficulty, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The world champions struggled against both Mexico and Sweden in their first two WC games, and now, those two teams will battle it out as they attempt to reach the knockout stages. They were considered to be the two teams who would battle it out for second place, but by the time it’s all said and done, they could both be progressing to the Round of 16.

Mexico

Mexico seem to be the ‘people’s team’ of the 2018 World Cup, with many fans getting behind them after they picked up six points from their first two games. They have a string of talented attacking players and an impressive defensive unit, with their cardio being the only real issue that we could pick out from their opener against Germany. If they can quietly go about their own business then a win in this one is entirely possible, especially with Lozano & Hernandez being on form.

Team News

Edson Alvarez and Marco Fabian are both making strong claims to edge their way into the starting XI, but apart from that, the manager may not want to upset the status quo too much as they go in search of qualification.

Sweden

Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden were expected to struggle immensely to get through their group in Russia. While they may have lost against Germany it took a late wonder-goal to prevent them from gaining a point, and while that could often be enough to kill a team’s confidence, they’ll know that they need to put everything on the line in order to reach the knockout stages. They’re a well-oiled unit on their day, and they just need to maintain that pace for 90 minutes.

Team News

Sebastian Larsson, Viktor Claesson and Albin Ekdal are all only one yellow card away from being suspended, but in terms of the starting XI, many are expecting Sweden to stick with the team that took Germany to the limit.

Factors to Consider

• Sweden leads the head to head 4-2, with three draws.
• Mexico have six points from their first two World Cup games.
• Sweden have three points from their first two World Cup games.
• Mexico have scored three and conceded one so far at the World Cup.
• Sweden have scored two and conceded two so far at the World Cup.

Conclusion

Mexico’s win over Germany led many to believe that they could be dark horses to win the entire tournament, but against South Korea, they looked a little bit more ordinary. Sweden, on the other hand, improved substantially against Germany to make us believe that they could cause Mexico some problems. Given that they’re already top of the group we think the Mexicans are going to sit back a little bit here, inviting some Swedish pressure which will lead to a final result of 1-1.

Prediction: Draw

Best Odds: 23/10

Bookmaker: bet365