What a shock here for the German machine, losing to Mexico 0-1 while having almost a 70 % possession and countless tries on goal, but they just couldn't score, while getting a fast goal from a Mexican counter-attack, just shocked them even more. After the initial shock, things should calm down for Germany, today they're facing a European opponent, which they will have more confidence to play against for sure. On the other side, Sweden was off to a good start after beating South Korea 1-0 and they are now looking for at least one more point here to get them in front.
It's not a surprise that Germany had problems with scoring in the first game, they weren't playing good in their last friendlies and they usually start big tournaments like this. This should bounce back today, I'm not talking about a big crushing win since they are facing another opponent which plays a very defensive game, but I expect a 1 goal victory here for them. If they mess up this one today, there is not coming back from another mistake.
After losing their wizard in the offense, I'm talking about Zlatan of course, they don't seem that dangerous at a first glance. But they can still play some good soccer and they have proven that, against South Korea, patiently waiting for their chance and getting a penalty that would bring them the 3 points. They have a good defense, but today they will face a lot of pressure from their opponent and I don't really think they can hold them back for the whole game.
I've thought about almost a 100 ways this pick can go wrong, but I still believe it's the most probable. Germany will attack right away, but it's not something Sweden is not used to. They will try to slow down the game and will probably be successful for maybe the first 30 minutes. I do expect Germany to score at least once, but I don't believe Sweden can on this one. I see a 1-0, maybe 2-0 victory for Germany, but on the other hand, the pressure might get them to trouble again, if they struggle to score again, this pick is an easy win. I just hope Sweden can hold on for the first part of the game and then we should be good with this one.
