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Euro 2022: How Sweden can hurt England in semi-final

Beth Mead and Fridolina Rolfo
England’s Beth Mead (left) has five goals and two assists in the tournament, while Sweden’s Fridolina Rolfo has one goal and one assist

While England are considered favourites to book their place at the Euro 2022 final, standing in their way is the highest-ranked team in the competition.

Sweden, ranked second in the world behind the United States, have reached back-to-back Olympic finals and won bronze at the 2019 World Cup in France.

Peter Gerhardsson’s team also have history on their side, with the Lionesses winning just three of their 26 meetings in all competitions.

So what do England need to be wary of? Arsenal’s Swedish manager, Jonas Eidevall, takes a closer look for BBC Sport at how the teams match up before Tuesday’s semi-final.

What are Sweden’s biggest strengths?

Eidevall: We have been spoiled by this Swedish team with great results over a long period of time so the expectations on this team are huge.

So far, people back home have been pretty critical and want to see more. But they are in the semi-finals and I think they have reached this stage in a way they deserved to and in a controlled way – which is a strength.

The players and staff know they have another level to their game and if they find that against England then they have a good chance of going through.

When Sweden are playing their best they are a really good team on the counter-attack and are good at set-pieces. They would be the two main concerns playing against them.

England are also absolutely capable of beating Sweden. It’s a coin toss between them. It’s 50-50 which team is going to advance.

Graphic showing Sweden's Euro 2022 results

Can Sweden blunt England’s attack?

Eidevall: England can hurt Sweden through their wing play. That has been England’s strong point so far in the tournament.

All three of England’s wingers have been key for them. It makes them so difficult to play against. Beth Mead, Lauren Hemp and Chloe Kelly are all excellent one-v-one players and have excellent crossing.

They are so versatile – they can play on the right or the left and are really good at attacking from opposite wings when a cross comes in from the other side because they like to attack the box.

Each one of them poses multiple threats. Because of the similarities they have, it puts Sarina Wiegman in a good position where she can substitute them easily.

What are Sweden going to do to deal with the wing-play? I think they will do what they did against the Netherlands and revert back to a 5-4-1 formation.

They would double up on the triangles which have been very effective for England so far – the winger, the defensive midfielder and the full-back. That triangle would be covered by Sweden’s wing-back, wide forward and central defender on each side.

What England would need to do is use their wide midfielder and centre-forward in a much more combinational way than they have been forced to before to get the Sweden defence moving.

Can Sweden’s Fridolina Rolfo improve?

Fridolina Rolfo
Fridolina Rolfo is a forward for Barcelona and a key player in Sweden’s Euro 2022 squad

Eidevall: I can see Fridolina Rolfo stepping up against England. When I said I wanted her to step up after the quarter-final, it was that I wanted her to use her pace and power more often and better.

In the games I have seen her in at the Euros, she is standing still too much when she receives the ball. She is receiving it in tight spaces where she has a hard time accelerating.

She needs to find a position that enables her to get into her speed and pace more often and that would be to start wider. That is key.

When she is attacking at pace she is one of the world’s best forwards and we haven’t really seen it. We saw glimpses of it when Sweden scored on the counter-attack against Switzerland.

It’s a combination of your team-mates’ positioning, your own and where your opponents are. That’s one part I think she and Sweden need to put some work into.

The other part might take care of itself because I think the England game will involve more defending for Sweden and therefore will create more space when they win the ball. It could be that type of game that will give Rolfo and other Swedish players that space.

Should in-form Russo start for England?

Alessia Russo
England forward Alessia Russo has scored three goals as a substitute during the tournament

Eidevall: This is where it depends on how you are trying to read the game as a coach. Striker Ellen White has been a part of the starting XI and Alessia Russo has been a part of the finishing XI.

If you look at how it was divided against Spain in the quarter-final, they basically played 60 minutes each. It’s not really a preference of who you like best, it’s about what qualities you want at the beginning of the game and which ones you want at the end of the game.

I find that is really interesting when you look at team selection. I think Wiegman likes to have more of White’s qualities in the beginning of the game and more of Russo’s at the end of the game.

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