There are just two rounds of UEFA World Cup qualifying matches left to play and Group A is one of the most exciting in the tournament, with each team having 4 matches remaining.
The current leaders of the group are Sweden, who have 13 points from their six games played and France are level on points in second place, but with a worse goal difference. Netherlands are third with 10 points and Bulgaria fourth on 9 points.
With just the top team going through automatically and the second-place team facing a potential playoff to progress to Russia, Bulgaria know a win could catapult them right into contention in this group.
France and Netherlands are playing each other, so if one of these teams can pick up maximum points from this match, it would be hugely advantageous.
Bulgaria have played in seven World Cup tournaments with their best performance coming in the 1994 World Cup when they reached the semi-final. Since then they have qualified for one World Cup finals tournament which was France 1998.
Sweden’s best performance at a World Cup came back in 1958 when they were runners-up in the tournament they hosted. Since then the best place they have achieved is third place which came at the 1994 World Cup in America. Sweden have failed to qualify for the past two World Cup finals.
Bulgaria know they must win this match and have been very strong at home in recent World Cup qualifying games. They have won all three of their home matches in Group A, including an excellent 2-0 win over Netherlands in their last home game.
That win made it four competitive wins in a row at home for Bulgaria and they look like a tough team to beat on their own soil. In fact, they have lost only one of their previous seven home competitive games which was a 1-0 defeat to Norway in September 2015.
Sweden have won four and drawn one of their last five games, both competitive and friendly. Their latest match was a 1-1 friendly draw at Norway in June but without doubt their biggest win was in the home World Cup qualifier against France.
The 2-1 home victory has given Sweden the belief they have what it takes to qualify and reach the 2018 World Cup by winning the group.
However, Sweden have only played two away matches so far in the group and narrowly defeated Luxembourg 1-0 before losing 2-1 in France.
Bulgaria will be hoping Spas Delev and Ivelin Popov are both fit for this game as they are their top scorers in the group with 2 goals each but Svetoslav Dyakov is suspended.
Sweden will be looking towards midfielder Emil Forsberg for inspiration, as he already has 3 goals to his name in the group. The visitors have no suspension concerns ahead of the game.
This is going to be a tough match for both teams, who know they must take advantage of Netherlands and France playing each other. There may be few goals but plenty of tension and don’t be surprised to see a low scoring draw.