England Women are just one game away from the Women's Euro 2022 final at Wembley, but in their way stands Sweden Women, who will face the tournament hosts in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Sweden will compete in the last four of the European Championships for the ninth time in tournament history, while England are making their fourth appearance in the semi-finals.
Match preview
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As England begin to dream of their first major tournament trophy, they will hope that their Euro 2022 campaign does not end at Bramall Lane on Tuesday.
Sarina Wiegman's side dominated in the group stage to top the standings after a 1-0 victory against Austria was followed by a historic 8-0 over Norway, before Northern Ireland were thrashed 5-0.
While their progression through the group phase was comfortable, their quarter-final encounter against Spain on Wednesday was anything but.
The tournament hosts were six minutes from exiting the tournament after Spain took the lead through Esther Gonzalez, but a dramatic equaliser from Ella Toone in the 84th minute ensured that the contest would require an additional 30 minutes.
With the quarter-final encounter on a knife-edge, Georgia Stanway produced a thunderous long-distance effort in the first half of extra time to secure a place in the last four.
After being eliminated at the semi-final stage five years ago, England will aim to reach their first European Championship final since finishing runners-up to Germany in 2013.
England will carry an 18-game unbeaten run into the semi-final, and they will hope that home advantage can help them progress to their second-ever major tournament final.
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Meanwhile, Sweden are aiming to reach the final of the European Championships for the first time since 2001, while their overall objective is to end a 38-year wait for a major trophy.
Like their semi-final opponents, the 1984 winners finished the group stage in top spot after beating Iceland and Portugal to follow up a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in their tournament opener.
Peter Gerhardsson's side entered the quarter-final tie against Belgium as heavy favourites, but the contest looked set to head to extra time despite Sweden's dominance.
However, in the second minute of stoppage time, Linda Sembrant became Sweden's hero, prodding the ball home from close range to set up a semi-final date against England.
As the highest ranked team at Euro 2022, Sweden will not be daunted by the prospect of playing the tournament hosts, especially as they have also emerged victorious from the last two meetings with the Lionesses.
Gerhardsson will hope that he is the individual that can mastermind a victory to secure a fourth European Championship final appearance for Sweden.
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Team News
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Although the likes of Alessia Russo and Toone came off the bench to play a key role against Spain, Wiegman could be tempted to name an unchanged England lineup for the fifth consecutive game.
After scoring the winner in the quarter-final, Stanway will try to control Tuesday's contest in midfield alongside Keira Walsh.
Beth Mead was unable to find the net against Spain, but the current tournament top scorer will look to add to her five-goal tally in the semi-finals.
As for Sweden, they will hope that Hanna Glas, Emma Kullberg and Jonna Andersson are available after the trio missed the quarter-final due to COVID-19.
If they test negative then Glas and Andersson will be Sweden's full-backs, while Kullberg will have to settle for a place on the bench.
Gerhardsson will also continue with a front three of Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Fridolina Rolfo and Stina Blackstenius for the semi-final contest.
England Women possible starting lineup:
Earps; Bronze, Bright, Williamson, Daly; Stanway, Walsh; Mead, Kirby, Hemp; White
Sweden Women possible starting lineup:
Lindahl; Glas, Ilestedt, Eriksson, Andersson; Angeldal, Asllani, Bjorn; Rytting Kaneryd, Rolfo, Blackstenius
We say: England Women 1-0 Sweden Women
With a place in the European Championship finals at stake, we expect Bramall Lane to play host to a cagey contest, but with the home fans in full support, we think that England will edge out Sweden on Tuesday to book their place at Wembley.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a England Women win with a probability of 41.8%. A win for Sweden Women had a probability of 34.85% and a draw had a probability of 23.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a England Women win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.75%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (6.85%) and 2-0 (5.76%). The likeliest Sweden Women win was 1-2 (7.9%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.4%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 1.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that England Women would win this match.
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