Sweden vs. Czech Republic: preview and betting tips

The barrage is finally here. The Czech Republic must first defeat Sweden on its way to the World Cup in Qatar, then it would have to face Poland. How will the match against the Nordic team turn out?

Jaroslav Šilhavý has to cope with the absence of several mainstays. He cannot count on Coufal, Čelůstka, Kalas, Bořil or Schick. Only Jakub Jankto sits on the bench in Getafe, as well as Alex Král in West Ham, who did not even fit into the nomination.

The captain Tomáš Souček, Antonín Barák and Tomáš Vaclík remain as permanent fixtures. The rest of the core must be built on players from the domestic league, such as Holeš, Hložek, Lingr or Masopust.

Sweden has a very strong squad. Moreover, the coach is counting on all the mainstays, only the star Zlatan Ibrahimovic can’t play because of his cards, but he wouldn’t be in the starting line-up anyway.

The biggest fears for the Czechs are Alexander Isak, Dejan Kulusevski and Emil Forsberg. Coach Joanne Andersson wasn’t afraid to nominate newcomer Anthony Elanga.

In the history of the independent Czech Republic, we have played Sweden three times, each time in a friendly. Once we lost, twice we drew. Let’s hope it’s time for a win.

With the Czech Republic missing their top scorer Patrik Schick, the offense is extremely weakened. It can be expected that Jaroslav Šilhavy’s charges will rather try to eliminate the opponent’s strengths and wait for his mistake.

Even considering what is at stake, we can expect a cautious match where neither team will want to give the opponent a chance. Therefore, I expect the first half to end in a draw.