Prediction: Draw
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The 2018 FIFA World Cup is officially in the books, and while domestic football is back in our lives, the first international break of the season is upon us as the UEFA Nations League begins as we start looking ahead to UEFA Euro 2020. Two teams who will be looking to make a statement are Switzerland and Iceland, both of whom will look at their World Cup campaigns this past summer and think that they probably could ve done more. Hindsight is a funny thing in that way, and instead of looking behind them, it s time to look forward to the future.
Switzerland
The Swiss were always expected to be the team that qualifies alongside Brazil from their World Cup group, and while they did manage to achieve that, it wasn t exactly as clean cut as many were anticipating. They were never able to pull away from teams and really rubber stamp their status as a nation to watch, which eventually led to their exit in the Round of 16 at the hands of Sweden. This is a really strong Swiss team on paper, and if they can find a system that suits them, then they could be really dangerous heading into Euro 2020.
Team News
Shaqiri is expected to be the main man for the Swiss with a strong line-up expected.
Iceland
It almost feels like everyone forgot about Iceland s ultimate underdog tag prior to the World Cup, as many fans and pundits were actually tipping them to qualify from their incredibly difficult group alongside Argentina, Nigeria and Croatia. While they gave a good account of themselves throughout the tournament, you have to wonder when they ll start being viewed as a team who are expected to do well at the WC and the Euros as opposed to one that is just there to make up the numbers. Either way, they ve shown ruthless efficiency in qualifying as of late, and we re expecting to see that again in the next few years.
Team News
Sigurdsson will lead the way from the front as Iceland attempt to rebound from what was a fairly disappointing WC campaign.
Factors to Consider
The game will be played at Kybunpark.
Switzerland reached the Round of 16 at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Iceland reached the group stage at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Switzerland have a perfect 5-0 record against Iceland, with just one draw.
Their last game ended 4-4 back in 2013.
Conclusion
In the realms of European football, both Switzerland and Iceland have been on the outside looking in at the elite nations for a few years now. They both like to play quite conservative football which allows them to hit their opponents on the break, and we feel as if that s the kind of thing they re going to try and do in this one. Alas, while most would assume that ll lead to a dull encounter, we re expecting goals with an official prediction of 2-2 between two teams who will be looking to make a statement as the road to UEFA Euro 2020 begins.
Prediction: Draw
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