| On Saturday Sweden face Denmark in a World Cup Qualifier which could have a big outcome over which of the major Scandinavian footballing nations will be playing in South Africa in 2010.
Sweden have always been the major footballing power in Scandinavia, and have produced a steady stream of stars for the World’s top clubs, however, this year, it is Denmark, with a team that lacks ‘superstars’ who are sitting at the top of Group One, looking down on their neighbours.
Both sides are unbeaten in their qualification, and unless they draw (23/10,Bet365) one of the two will have lost that record by Saturday night. Sweden (11/10, SkyBet) have underperformed in their four matches, winning just once and drawing three times, and therefore need a good performance in front of their own fans to kickstart their campaign.
Denmark (13/5, Bet365) on the other hand, have been perhaps performing above themselves, with four wins out of five, although having already beaten Portugal away from home, they can justifiably go into Saturday’s match confident that they can perform against Europe’s biggest sides.
One problem, however, for the Danes will be the absence of top scorer Soren Larsen, who has scored five goals in five qualifiers. Much of the attacking responsibility will therefore be placed on Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner (7/1, Bluesq) who will be supported by the attacking midfield trio of Thomas Kahlneberg (14/1, Bluesq), Martin Jorgensen (11/1, Bluesq) and Jesper Gronkjaer (14/1, Ladbrokes). Premiership fans looking for a long-odds shot could do worse than Liverpool defender Daniel Agger (33/1, Ladbrokes), who is a threat in the air from set pieces, and also frequently takes the Danes penalties, scoring one in the match against Malta.
The Swedes, in contrast to the Danes, have struggled badly for goals in their matches. Three of their four qualifiers have finished nil-nil (15/2, SportingBet) and none of their ‘big-name’ strikers: Henrik Larsson (13/2, Ladbrokes), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (5/1, Ladbrokes), Marcus Rosenberg (7/1, Ladbrokes) or Johan Elmander (7/1, Ladbrokes) have found the net in any qualifiers thus far. Those who believe that that trend will continue on Saturday may fancy a punt on Lyon midfielder Kim Kallstrom (16/1, Ladbrokes) who opened the scoring for the Swedes in their match against Hungary.
The two sides have the best defensive records in the group and, given the Swedes inability to find the net, the match could well be a low-scoring affair. Bluesq offer 4/6 that the match contains Under 2.5 goals, and big hitters will be looking to wade in on that. A one-nil victory for Sweden is a tempting 11/2 (Bluesq) and a Danish win by the same scoreline is available at 8/1 (Expekt).
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