Sweden play host to Croatia in a Group 3 of League A in the Nations League at the Friends Arena in Solna on Saturday evening with a valuable three points at stake for both nations.
Saturday’s hosts, Sweden, currently sit bottom of the group and pointless following four defeats on the trot and it’s now a two-horse race struggle against their visitors, Croatia, as to who ends up with the wooden spoon but more importantly, which natiuon is relegated down to League B.
Samlade igen 🇸🇪🙌Förutsättningarna inför årets sista samling.👉 https://t.co/hRd6jKdnl1#viärsverige pic.twitter.com/diR1TaeCWB— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) November 10, 2020
Samlade igen 🇸🇪🙌Förutsättningarna inför årets sista samling.👉 https://t.co/hRd6jKdnl1#viärsverige pic.twitter.com/diR1TaeCWB
Defeats to France and Portugal at home in 1-0 and 2-0 losses respectively have been followed by back-to-back defeats away from home at Croatia and Portugal and although Sweden recorded a 2-1 win away at Russia in an international friendly, that counts for very little at this stage.
However, prior to what has been a disastrous Nations League campaign so far, Sweden had previously put together an eight-match unbeaten sequence in all competitions (six in Euro qualifiers and two in non-FIFA friendlies), while losing just two of their last 10 matches at home overall.
Six of these 10 matches have resulted in under 2.5 goals while three of their four home matches in the Nations League have also seen under three goals scored.
Saturday’s visitors, Croatia, sit just one league place above their hosts, Sweden, ahead of this important clash but crucially, hold a three-point cushion over the Swedes, so avoiding defeat here would also be considered a good result for Croatia.
The visitor’s single success so far in this season’s Nations League campaign came in the shape of a 2-1 home win over Sweden in mid-October which followed early back-to-back defeats against Portugal and France, both of which were away from home.
However, Croatia were unable to capitalise on their victory over Sweden against France despite being at home as Les Bleus ran out 2-1 winners in Zagreb, but Croatia have won their last away match, albeit a friendly international 2-1 win at Switzerland.
Results to date on the road in the Nations League though tell a very different story as Croatia have lost all four of their matches to date on their travels with losses incurred at Spain, England, Portugal and France, whilst also conceding 16 goals and scoring just 4 in reply.
Forebet predicts a win for Sweden and over 2.5 goals in the fixture.