Serbia-Sweden is a match for the fifth day of the Nations League and is scheduled for Saturday at 20:45
SERBIA – SWEDEN
Serbia have no choice. If they want to keep the promotion dream alive, Tadic and his teammates absolutely need three points in their home match against Sweden, before going all out in the last match against Norway. What makes the difference at the moment is the defeat in the direct clash with Solbakken and Haaland’s national team, which was decided last June by a goal from Manchester City’s assaultive slinger. The Norwegians lead the standings in Group 4 of League B with ten points and, by winning against bottom-of-the-table Slovenia, they could gain promotion with one round to spare. That is why Serbia – a selection that is certainly not lacking in talent but does not always manage to put its players in a position to express it – is almost obliged to win the full match in a fiery Marakana.
It would be a shame to remain in League B after having snatched qualification for the next World Cup, finishing first in the group ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, mocked in the photo finish. Sweden, on the other hand, will not be in Qatar and even risk another relegation after dropping out of League A two years ago. Jan Andersson’s men seemed to be in freefall in June: after the initial success against Slovenia, they lost twice to Norway’s cousins and also surrendered to Serbia, which came through in Solna with a goal from Fiorentina striker Luka Jovic. In the standings, Sweden have only three points, only one less than Slovenia.
Cajuste between Milinkovic-Savic and Tadic
The Prediction
A match that will inevitably be influenced by the result of the challenge between Slovenia and Norway, which will be staged a few hours earlier. Serbia have more motivation and are slight favourites, but beyond their abundant talent they remain an unpredictable national team. Better to go for the goals: both are likely to score at least one on each side.
Serbia-Sweden matchday squad
- SERBIA (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Pavlovic, Veljkovic, S. Mitrovic; Lazovic, Lukic, Gudelj, Kostic; S. Milinkovic-Savic, Tadic; A. Mitrovic.
- SWEDEN (4-4-2): Olsen; Andersson, Lindelof, Hien, Augustinsson; Kulusevski, Olsson, Svanberg, Forsberg; Elanga, Gyokeres.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
