:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/xlmedia/A3Z525FFWRHGZO3B3D7H7B5IHY.jpg)
- Euro 2022 - Semi-final
- Venue: Bramall Lane
- Date: 26th July 2022 - 20:00 GMT
After late drama at the Amex last week, England will be praying for a much easier 90 minutes than their quarter-final clash against Spain.
In truth the Spanish dominated for the majority of the game, and it looked as though it was a task too far for the Lionesses, after conceding their first goal of the Euros. Jorge Vilda’s side took a deserved lead in the 54th minute through Esther Gonzalez. That was where Weigman was forced to ring the changes, resulting in four substitutions being made over the following 24 minutes.
The arrivals of Ella Toone (for White) and Alessia Russo (for Kirby) ultimately turned the game on its head. After 65 minutes it was all England as we started to expose the gaps in Spain’s defence. We used the space much better on the flanks and Spain were unable to keep hold of possession for more than three to four passes for the remaining 25 minutes of normal time.
For all England’s dominance during that period they still were playing against the clock, and on 84 minutes Ella Toone finally got the breakthrough. After 90 minutes the game was at a deadlock forcing extra-time. Our ladies carried the momentum through and took the lead for the first time when Georgia Stanway hit a 25-yard rocket that saw the net bulge. England had to now hold their lead and in all honesty never really looked troubled, despite Spain having a 10 minute period of possession.
It wasn’t plain sailing for our semi-final opponents either, who left it to the 92nd minute to open the scoring, defeating Belgium 1-0. The Swedes had dominated the entirety of the match with the Belgians failing to register a single shot on target, compared to Sweden’s eight on target and 14 shots off target. After drawing their opening Euro’s game 1-1 with the Netherlands, the Blagult have won their following three matches against Switzerland, Portugal and Belgium.
Coming into the tournament Peter Gerhardsson’s team were one of the favourites to lift the trophy, as we reach the final-four they are now classed as the outsiders at 11/2, with England priced at 6/4, Germany 9/4 and France 11/4.
Match Stats
- Beth Mead is the tournament’s leading scorer with 5 goals.
- England are on an unbeaten run of 17 games.
- England have won 9 of their last 10 matches inside 90 minutes.
- In the last 8 head-to-head meetings Sweden have had the upperhand winning on four occasions, two draws and two defeats.
- England are the favourites to win the Euro’s priced at 6/4.
- Sweden won the tournament in 1984 where they defeated England in the final.
- England have never won but have finished runners up in 1984 and 2009.
England Women v Sweden Women Predictions
I have backed Beth Mead to score anytime in all four of England’s games and she scored in every group game, with winning odds of 17/10, 7/5 and 13/20. After failing to score in the quarter-final she will be looking to add to her five goal tally and lift the golden boot in a week’s time.
- England to win either half - 1/2 with bet365
- Beth Mead to score anytime - 5/2 with Betfair
- England to win in extra-time - 9/1 with bet365
* Odds correct at the time of writing. All betting odds are subject to changes.
Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets
New Customers only. Bet £10* & Get £30* in Free Bets. Sign up, deposit between £5* and £10* to your account and bet365 will give you three times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply. Registration required.