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Greece national football team
World Cup Qualifying - Europe | Group Stage
Sep 8, 2021 at 7.45pm UK
 
Sweden national football team

Greece
2 - 1
Sweden

Bakasetas (62'), Pavlidis (78')
Pavlidis (8'), Bouchalakis (45+3')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Quaison (80')
Claesson (53'), Helander (70'), Kiese Thelin (89')

Preview: Greece vs. Sweden - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's World Cup Qualifying - Europe clash between Greece and Sweden, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Sweden head into their World Cup qualifier with Greece knowing that another three points will keep them in charge of Group B.

However, the home side, currently sitting six points adrift of their next opponents, will come back into contention with victory in Athens.


Match preview

Sweden coach Janne Andersson applauds fans after the match on June 14, 2021© Reuters

Drawn in a group which saw them reunited with familiar foes Spain, Janne Andersson would have been realistic regarding his team's ambitions of topping Group B.

However, last week's 2-1 victory over the former world champions has put Sweden in a position where they could qualify for the 2022 World Cup before the reverse fixture in Seville.

Only Greece, Kosovo and Georgia stand in their way of pulling off a considerable surprise, but Andersson will stress to his players that they must take one game at a time.

The Blue And Yellow have conceded just one goal during three qualifying fixtures, while a much-changed team edged out Uzbekistan by a 2-1 scoreline on Sunday.

Sweden have now won nine of 11 fixtures since the beginning of 2021, their only reverse being the extra-time defeat to Ukraine in the last 16 of Euro 2020.

Opponents Greece have endured a frustrating start to their World Cup qualifying campaign, failing to build on their shock draw in Spain on matchday one.

John van't Schip has since witnessed his side held to draws against Georgia and Kosovo, the most recent game on Sunday seeing them concede a 92nd-minute equaliser.

Still possessing games in hand on some of the nations above them, Greece will come back into contention if they can halt Sweden's growing momentum.

Greece have posted just two defeats in 15 outings since last September, both of those setbacks coming by a 2-1 scoreline against Austria and Switzerland respectively.

Greece World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:
  • D
  • D
  • D

Greece form (all competitions):
  • W
  • D
  • D
  • W
  • L
  • D

Sweden World Cup Qualifying - Europe form:
  • W
  • W
  • W

Sweden form (all competitions):
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • W



Team News

Greece's Anastasios Bakasetas celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on March 25, 2021© Reuters

Despite the disappointment of the last game, Van't Schip will give consideration to sticking with the same Greece XI.

Anastasios Douvikas and Vangelis Pavlidis are expected to retain their roles in attack, leaving Petros Mantalos to occupy a place among the replacements.

Having taken the opportunity to rest players against Uzbekistan, Andersson will likely select the Sweden starting lineup from the Spain fixture.

Jens Cajuste is an option in the centre of the pitch if Andersson wishes to replace either Albin Ekdal or Kristoffer Olsson.

Marcus Danielson will be named among the replacements after serving his one-match suspension.

Greece possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Androutsos, Mavropanos, Tzavellas, Giannoulis, Tsimikas; Bakasetas, Bouchalakis, Siopis; Douvikas, Pavlidis

Sweden possible starting lineup:
Olsen; Krafth, Lindelof, Helander, Augustinsson; Claesson, Olsson, Ekdal, Forsberg; Kulusevski, Isak


SM words green background

We say: Greece 1-2 Sweden

Given the opportunity that is front of them, we do not expect Sweden to have it all their own way over the coming months.

Nevertheless, we are predicting a hard-fought victory for the visitors against opponents who have struggled for wins of late.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a draw or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Draw/Away:data



ID:462442:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect7992:
Written by
Darren Plant

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Greece win with a probability of 44.62%. A win for Sweden had a probability of 29.73% and a draw had a probability of 25.6%.

The most likely scoreline for a Greece win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.42%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.09%) and 2-0 (7.78%). The likeliest Sweden win was 0-1 (8.17%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.19%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Greece would win this match.


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Game History

How you voted: Greece vs Sweden

Greece
14.6%
Draw
17.5%
Sweden
67.9%
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