Euro 2016 preview and odds: Republic of Ireland vs Sweden

Published on: 13/06/2016

Euro 2016 preview and odds: Republic of Ireland vs Sweden

Stade de France, Saint-Denis - June 13, 2016

Group stage - Group E

The Republic of Ireland will go in search of their first competitive win over Sweden when the sides meet on Monday evening in Group E.

Spain seeking unprecedented third-straight crown

Ireland have met Sweden six times in a competitive environment but have yet to beat their Group E rivals, having drawn two and lost four. However, they have beaten them three times and lost just once in friendly matches.

The teams were also pooled in the same group for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. On that occasion, Sweden prevailed 2-1 in Dublin, while the teams shared the spoils in Solna after a 0-0 draw.

Ireland will be looking to improve on their Euro 2012 performance when they lost all three games. They have played in two previous Euro tournaments but have yet to progress beyond the group stage. However, they did reach the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup.

The performance of Shane Long will be key for the Irish. The frontman has flourished under Ronald Koeman at Southampton this season and will be hoping to carry that form into this tournament.

Meanwhile, Sweden will be hoping that Zlatan Ibrahimovic can lead them to the knockout stages for the first time since 2004 when they made it to the quarter-finals. Their best ever campaign came back in 1992 when they made it to the semi-final stage before losing to Germany.

It is unclear who will partner Ibrahimovic up front with both John Guidetti and Marcus Berg in contention. However, it is thought that Erik Hamrén will bank on the goal scoring prowess of Berg for this clash.

Both sides finished third in their qualifying groups and booked their places in France via the play-off system.

Form (all competitions):

Republic of Ireland: LDDWWDLWWW

Sweden: WDDLDWWWLL

Betting predictions

The Republic of Ireland started badly four years ago and may take a more cautious approach to this opener. However, they will face a tough task negating the effect of Sweden`s Ibrahimovic-led attack.

Sweden will need to deal with Irelands aerial threat and set piece ability but they should have the quality to prevail.

You can back Sweden to win at 13/10 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 13/06/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (13/06/2016 12:16:45) but are subject to change.