France enter the Olympic Stadium in Kiev knowing that a point will secure passage into the knockout stage. They face a Sweden team that is playing for nothing more than pride.
Laurent Blanc’s men will want the win that will hopefully see them finish as group winners, as second place is likely to mean a match against current World and European champions Spain in the quarter finals.
Yann M’vila made his comeback in the 2-0 win over Ukraine and might start in place of Alou Diarra. Jeremy Menez is set to retain his place after opening the goalscoring in Donetsk after the thunder storms had passed, and Les Bleus enter the game on the back of a 23 match unbeaten streak and will be strong favourites against Erik Hamren and his team.
The 3-2 loss against England made it two losses on the spin for the Swedes and no matter what the result on Tuesday they will be going home. Even with the skills of the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic at their disposal, Sweden have struggled and conceded yet another headed goal last Thursday.
Blanc may try to exploit this by selecting Olivier Giroud upfront but France lack the wingers or the instinct to deliver crosses into the box. They will hope the movement of Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri, and Franck Ribery will be enough to unsettle Olaf Mellberg and company.
Sweden will be relying on AC Milan’s Ibrahimovic, but they also need Johan Elmander to find his shooting boots. Christian Wilhelmsson may start on the wing instead of Rasmus Elm, while Hamren may give game tie to those who have yet to feature in the tournament.
All in all, a France victory seems likely, but Sweden will put up a fight.
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