Russia get Arshavin boost for decider

Russia can unlock the most dangerous weapon from their arsenal when playmaker Andrei Arshavin returns from suspension to face Sweden in their decisive Euro 2008 Group D match tonight.

Russia need to win at the Tivoli-Neu stadium in Innsbruck to book a quarter-final spot, while a draw would do for Sweden.

Arshavin, widely considered Russia's top player, sat out their first two matches - a 4-1 defeat by Spain and a 1-0 win over Greece - and is expected to now take charge of the attack.

"Arshavin is a footballer who can make something out of nothing," coach Guus Hiddink said.

"He can score from anywhere. It's very useful for our team."

Despite the praise, Hiddink has hinted that 27-year-old Arshavin may not get an automatic place in the line-up.

"The last match he took part in was a friendly against Lithuania (on June 4). Up until then he had not played much, therefore he may not be in good enough condition to play a whole 90 minutes. We will see," Hiddink said.

Assuming he does start, Arshavin would probably play slightly behind striker Roman Pavlyuchenko and Hiddink would have to drop a midfielder, possibly Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who looked tired against Greece and picked up a slight knock.

Hiddink added that Sweden were the definite favourites and he expected them to play to win.

Sweden coach Lars Lagerback is likely to make just one change from the side beaten 2-1 by Spain with Niclas Alexandersson returning at full-back after recovering from a thigh strain in place of Fredrik Stoor.

Johan Elmander should start on the right side of midfield despite a niggling foot injury.

Sweden, whose team is dominated by 30-somethings, struggled in the latter part of both their games, so Lagerback will need to choose his substitutions carefully.

Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, scorer of two of Sweden's goals at the finals, is unlikely to last the whole 90 minutes yet again due to his ongoing knee complaint.

The Swedes have also been working hard on set-pieces, which until now have been poorly executed.

Key stats

• Russia, who need to defeat Sweden to qualify for the quarter-finals, have never beaten today's opponents.

• Russia's Guus Hiddink, coaching his fourth national side, has taken his three previous teams to the knockout stages of a major tournament. With Netherlands he reached the quarter-finals of Euro 96 and the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup, with South Korea the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup and as Australia coach, the last 16 of the 2006 World Cup.

Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium).

On TV: Russia vs Sweden, RaiDue 8.45 p.m.