The Winner Takes It All!

For anyone who was around Temple Bar in Dublin last night, you’d have noticed a sea of wavy blond hair as the Swedes well and truly took over the capital. With both teams locked level on points in Group C, tonight’s clash between the Republic of Ireland and Sweden represents a must-win encounter for both sides.

While Germany lead the group, Austria, Sweden and Ireland are vying for the coveted playoff spot, each team level on 11 points, with Austria occupying second place due to their superior goal difference. Any taxi driver in Dublin will tell you that they have a feeling Trap’s men are going to get the job done tonight, and that’s a view that I am happy to oppose. You can get Sweden at 7/4 and I’ll be taking a bit of that with the view that they just have a better team, with better players in almost every position. There is a view that Ireland is more of a ‘team’, with a bunch of average players who seem to rise to the occasion. That means nothing as far as I’m concerned. Sweden are better, and they need the win.

I think the reason that Sweden are as big as 7/4 is down to the fact that their form away from home during this campaign has been inconsistent. Despite showing tremendous resilience to stage a comeback in the dramatic 4-4 draw against Germany in Berlin, the Swedes were beaten 2-1 by Austria in Vienna in June. However, Erik Hamren’s side will be comforted by the fact that Ireland’s home form of late has also been questionable, with the Boys in Green suffering their worst ever home defeat in October 2012 – a 6-1 loss against group leaders Germany.

Ibrahimovic is going to get the job done tonight and live up to his reputation. He has scored 5 goals in his last 2 appearances for Sweden and overall he has scored 16 goals in his past 14 internationals. With that in mind, I’ll be backing him each-way for first goalscorer at 9/2 and will also be buying his goal minutes in or around the 25 mark.

I’ll come under some criticism for betting against the Boys in Green, but I’ll get over it when I’m collecting my winnings.