Scout Report: The winger looking to fire Sweden to victory over South Korea

In the post-Zlatan Ibrahimovic era, there is a lack of star quality in this Sweden squad. Emil Forsberg was supposed to be the next poster boy of Swedish football, yet a lacklustre season for RB Leipzig has seen many question whether he can take on the mantle from Ibrahimovic. 

A couple of weeks ago, though, Swedish striker Henrik Larsson spoke highly of Viktor Claesson and for good reason. Only Quincy Promes (22) had a direct hand in more goals than Claesson (16 – 10 goals, 6 assists) in the Russian Premier League last season and Sweden will be hoping he can take that form into the World Cup. 

A return of 2.1 key passes per game ranked among the top 10 players, while 63 key passes from open play was more than any other player in the Russian Premier League last season to reinforce a statistically calculated WhoScored.com strength ‘key passes’. While Sweden aren’t littered with attacking talent, in Claesson, they have a winger more then capable of creating goalscoring chances for his teammates. 

The downside, however, is that Sweden lack the requisite strikers to put these opportunities away. Marcus Berg and Ola Toivonen are two forwards who don’t strike fear into the hearts of opposition defences and their profligacy in front of goal means Sweden should be concerned about their chances of progressing. 

That being said, Claesson has the means to score if the forwards are struggling. His 10 goals was a fine return for FC Krasnodar and he has proved he can take matters into his own hands if required. This may prove vital as Sweden look to progress to the next round of the World Cup. 

Mexico’s 1-0 win over Germany was a shock, but presents Sweden and Monday’s rivals South Korea with the opportunity to capitalise on the world champions’ defeat to improve their chances of securing a knockout spot. In Claesson, Sweden can take solace in calling upon a winger who has the means to fire them to the last-16.