UEFA Women’s EURO 2022: The battle for control between England and Sweden – tactical preview

After a dominant performance over Belgium in the quarter-finals, Sweden will go to Sheffield to face England for a spot in the Euro 2022 final. While the Lionesses had a difficult time against Spain, grabbing the winner in extra-time, they have been quite dominant throughout the tournament. On the other hand, the Blågult have consistently performed well in their matches, including the quarter-final. Despite only scoring one goal to defeat Belgium, Peter Gerhardsson’s side had a mind-blowing 6.07 xG figure.

While both sides try to be in control of the match, they tend to do so in completely opposite ways, as we will see in this analysis. The semi-final on Tuesday will prove to be a fascinating tactical battle between two world-class managers. In this tactical preview, we will not only identify the tactics used by both England and Sweden but also how they will interact with each other. In addition to identifying key tactical points, this analysis will highlight a few key players that could make the difference, for better or worse.

Lineups and formations

Before examining key tactical points, it is worth looking at how the two teams will line up. Sarina Wiegman has been extremely consistent with her starting eleven, and the same should be expected on Tuesday. In a 4-2-3-1, Mary Earps will be in goal behind Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright, Leah Williamson, and Rachel Daly. While Daly, the left-back, struggled to contain Athenea Del Castillo and was subbed off on Wednesday, she should still expect to be selected in the semi-final. Ahead of the double pivot formed by Georgia Stanway and Keira Walsh, Bethany Mead, Francesca Kirby, Lauren Hemp, and Ellen White make up the front four.

Contrastingly, Gerhardsson has not repeated a starting lineup yet. Not only has the 62-year-old manager constantly rotated personnel, depending on the opposition and strategy, but he has also changed the formation a couple of times. While they began the tournament in a 3-4-2-1, they have changed to a 4-2-3-1, and then to a 4-4-2. Gerhardsson seems to have liked the 4-4-2 though and repeated it in the quarter-final. For reasons we will identify in this analysis, he should be expected to repeat it once again.

Due to three players testing positive for COVID-19, it is a bit easier to predict Sweden’s starting XI. As PSG’s right-back Hanna Glas is one of them, Amanda Ilestedt will be the right-back. Magdalena Eriksson and Linda Sembrant will form the centre-back pairing with Amanda Nildén as the left-back. Ahead of them, Nathalie Bjorn and Filippa Angeldahl will be the double pivot flanked by Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Fridolina Rolfö. Up top, Kosovare Asllani will be the false nine alongside Arsenal centre-forward Stina Blackstenius. In goal, of course, Hedvig Lindahl will start.

Battle for control

One thing is clear from Sweden’s 6.070.15 xG over Belgium, they like to be in control of the match. This control, however, is not through dominating possession, but rather by dominating territory. Despite being clearly better than Belgium, they only had 51.84% of possession. Through their average positions, though, we are able to identify they spent the majority of the match in the opposition’s half. This is largely due to their aggressive high press, illustrated by their 7.66 average PPDA.

With the ball, they are vertical and like to play in transition, with 11.05% of their passes in the tournament being long. Furthermore, their 155.5 forward passes per 90 are higher than their 137.5 lateral passes per 90.

In possession, the Blågult like to increase the pitch by maximising width. This width is maintained by their fullbacks, as seen below. Meanwhile, the wingers will drift inside to overload the midfield and operate in the half-spaces. In front of the two centre-backs, the double pivot is formed with attackers fluctuating ahead of them.

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