France is geared up to take on Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine in the Group D match on Friday, June 16, 2012. Laurent Blanc's men, who are unbeaten in 22 games, were held to a 1-1 draw by England in their opening clash, while Ukraine prevailed against Sweden.France dominated the midfield battle against England and the like of experienced midfielder Anatoliy Tymoschuk need to be at their best to quell the influence of Samir Nasri and Frank Ribery.
Despite their opening victory, Ukraine are yet to beat France in any form of international football, with the 14th-ranked nation winning two of the previous three and it may just play on the mind of manager Oleh Blokhin.
In another Group D clash, England will try to end their decades-long jinx against Sweden, which has assumed must-win status for both sides. Sweden's opening 2–1 defeat to Ukraine means that Erik Hamren's team will be eliminated if they lose to England, who have never beaten the Scandinavians in a competitive fixture.
The Sweden team spokesman, Hans Hultman, has confirmed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be fit to start against England despite missing parts of Wednesday's training session due to an injury to his left thigh.
Erik Hamren could opt to restore Johan Elmander to the starting XI ahead of Markus Rosenberg, who was preferred against Ukraine. Elmander had been recovering from a fractured foot and only returned to full training two days before Sweden's opening match in Kiev.
England beat Sweden 1-0 in a Wembley friendly last year but have never beaten Sweden in a competitive fixture, with the Swedes winning twice and drawing five times in seven previous meetings.
Manager Roy Hodgson acknowledged England needed to show more penetration in attack if they were to take all three points.
Hodgson is likely to stick with the 4-4-2 formation which stymied France, meaning no rest for either Gerrard or his midfield minder Scott Parker.
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