[The Funk]

Above all else I think the England match is about Owen and Rooney. Owen seems to need to prove himself and they both need match fitness, so hopefully they'll both get plenty of playing time. I think they're England's best partnership.

On paper England should win, although Sweden is a bit of a bogey team. They have some top notch players eg. Ljungberg, Ibrahimovich, and the others are all solid. Larsson is getting on now and past his best, but he still an intelligent and effective striker.

I think England will be motivated, hell any team should always be motivated, and I expect them to start improving with this game, it can often be hard to get into top gear against poorer opposition. I think this game is ideal for England really; they don't need to worry about getting knocked out and they're playing a good team to help them start stepping it up for the next stages. 2-1 sounds a good bet as it'll probably be close. England won't be playing their strongest 11, but then again, Sven still seems to have no idea what his strongest 11 actually is, so maybe it won't be a hindrance.

Sweden just need a draw to qualify so i'll be interested to see how they approach the game. I think both sides will go for victory, but I'd expect England to be trying to force the issue more as they need a good performance.

4-1 Sweden.