[JebronsLame]

What would seem a relatively straight forward group to predict on paper, I expect some shocks in this one with host Ukraine certainly looking to impress home fans.

1st - France
The form team coming into the tournament, France are the pick of many pundits. Laurent Blanc has come in and changed the philosophy of the side with exciting young players replacing the argumentative old guard. Yann M'Vila's absence due to injury will be disappointing but Yohan Cabaye is more than capable anchoring the midfield. Their success will also rely on Benzema continuing his good form and Ribery showing up at international level which hasn't happened in a while. Watch out for Olivier Giroud coming off the bench also.

2nd - Sweden
Again, all 3 of the others have a decent claim for second. England would seem the obvious choice but have been hit by injuries in each position and the loss of Rooney for the first two games could prove their downfall. Carroll is tipped to be the lone striker (hardly fear-inducing) with Walcott and Young behind him. If these two perform well then England have a chance but their inconsistency is their downfall. Preparations have been hampered by a change of manager and the Terry/Ferdinand row. Could be a similar outcome to France's poor showing in 2010. Ukraine possess some excellent young players in Yarmolenko and Dnipro's Konoplyanka and Tymoshchuk and Gusev are still very capable at this level. Up front they are short, Voronin and Shevchenko are past their best and Milevskiy is enigmatic. I'm opting for the tidy Swedes who look may continue to play Ibrahimovic in the hole where he is very effective. Despite losing to England in last years friendly, they have an impeccable record against them and a Rooney-less England could struggle against the organised Swedes again.

Opening Fixtures Predictions:
France -0.0/0.5 vs England at 2.02
Ukraine and Sweden to draw at 3.36

[snip3r2006]

wow ... for me sweden is far the worst team in this group expect them to be last in group with 1 point

[Mrkonas]

well i totally agree with jebron that france is this groups favorite...and i think ukraine is the worst team..i saw them at the frendlies matches with austria and turkey...what a mess...

[Realmoney]

I think Sweden can edge Ukraine due to the skills on Zlatan and Ukraine doesn't have much upfront due to shevchenko still being in the team this just shows desperation.

[JebronsLame]

Definitely Realmoney, Sheva and Voronin as their main strikers is a real sign of weakness and Oleg Blokhin has publicly criticised Milevskiy who is an odd character to be fair, I watched them against Austria and they were decent despite the result, strong in midfield but offered nothing up front, it took two crackers from Gusev to score at all. They were awful against Turkey but 10 players had food poisoning. I'm sticking with the Sweden call Mrkonas, on paper they don't look the best, older players like Anders Svensson are still in the squad and starting ahead of emerging stars like Elm and Bajrami but they work well as a unit and love him or hate him, Zlatan is sheer class

[Vaughany]

wow ... for me sweden is far the worst team in this group expect them to be last in group with 1 point

Ukraine looked poor against Turkey while Sweden have been solid in all their friendlies...no way they are weaker than Ukraine

[Vaughany]

Milevskiy is woeful!

[BigBurk]

wow ... for me sweden is far the worst team in this group expect them to be last in group with 1 point

I wonder if you have even seen them play? If you would have, you would agree that they have a good chance at advancing to the quarters.

[snip3r2006]

I wonder if you have even seen them play? If you would have, you would agree that they have a good chance at advancing to the quarters.

i did. for me its almost 100% france and england ... ukrain and sweden battle for last place imo

[Geaser11]

France and Sweden have to be the ones to qualify from this group. England will sit back and try to soak up pressure and i reckon they will try to use Welbeck and Ashley Young on the Counter attack. France V England in the first round of matches will tell a lot! Very attacking side against a defensive side

[RubberKettle]

Ukraine looked poor against Turkey while Sweden have been solid in all their friendlies...no way they are weaker than Ukraine

Supposedly Ukraine camp hit with stomach virus before the game and many players were not 100%

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/eur...ips-squad.html

Maybe just propaganda who knows with Ukraine.