MX23RW : Sunday, November 24 17:23:02| >> :600:181281:181281:
[monks data]
Sweden national football team
Nations League | League A
Sep 5, 2020 at 7.45pm UK
Friends Arena
France national football team

Sweden
0 - 1
France


Lindelof (90+4')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Mbappe (41')
Upamecano (3')

Preview: Sweden vs. France - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's UEFA Nations League clash between Sweden and France, including team news and predicted lineups.

France will be looking to get their 2020-21 UEFA Nations League campaign off to a positive start when they take on Sweden in Group 3 of League A on Saturday night.

Didier Deschamps's side failed to progress through the group stage in the 2018-19 competition, while Sweden earned promotion to Group A courtesy of finishing top of Group B2 ahead of Russia and Turkey.


Match preview

Sweden striker Alexander Isak pictured in November 2019© Reuters

Sweden picked up seven points from their four Group B2 games in the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League to finish top of the section, meaning that they were promoted to League A for the 2020-21 competition.

The Blue and Yellows have a tough task on their hands to finish top of this particular group, though, as they will also take on Portugal and Croatia in Group 3 of League A.

Janne Andersson's side will be present in next summer's European Championships, having enjoyed an impressive qualification campaign, finishing second behind Spain in Group F on 21 points.

Sweden's main focus will be on preparing for the tournament next year, although they will enter this match in good form, winning six of their last eight games in all competitions, remaining unbeaten in the process.

France boss Didier Deschamps on November 14, 2019© Reuters

France, meanwhile, picked up seven points from their four matches against the Netherlands and Germany in the 2018-19 UEFA Nations League but ultimately finished second in the section.

Les Bleus are the reigning world champions, though, and will be amongst the favourites to win next summer's European Championships, which are due to get underway in June 2021.

Deschamps's side breezed through their Euro qualification campaign, winning eight of their 10 matches, picking up 25 points to finish ahead of Turkey at the summit.

Like Sweden, the Blues will bring a strong run into this match, having won six of their last seven matches, remaining unbeaten in the process, and they will be determined to triumph on Saturday night.

Deschamps has said ahead of the match that he wants to "work on several tactical schemes" before the Euros, and it will be fascinating to see how the 2018 World Cup winners approach the UEFA Nations League.

Sweden Nations League form: LDWW
Sweden form (all competitions): WDWWWW

France Nations League form: DWWL
France form (all competitions): WWWDWW


Team News

France midfielder Paul Pogba kisses the World Cup trophy in 2018© Reuters

Sweden are expected to have Manchester United centre-back Victor Lindelof in their first XI, while veteran midfielder Sebastian Larsson is also likely to feature in the starting side.

Marcus Berg is the leading scorer in the squad with 21 international goals and could again be joined by Robin Quaison in attack, although Alexander Isak is pushing for a position in the side.

Juventus attacker Dejan Kulusevski will also be hoping to earn just his second cap for the national team.

As for France, Paul Pogba and Tanguy Ndombele were both forced to withdraw from the France squad ahead of this match after testing positive for coronavirus.

The Blues have the majority of their star players available, though, with the likes of Raphael Varane, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe all in line to start on Saturday night.

Anthony Martial is also back in the squad after an excellent season for Man United and could start, while in-demand central defender Dayot Upamecano will be hoping to make his first international appearance.

Sweden possible starting lineup:
Olsen; Lustig, Lindelof, Helander, Augustinsson; Larsson, Ekdal, Olsson, Forsberg; Quaison, Berg

France possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Dubois, Varane, Lenglet, F Mendy; Kante, Sissoko; Martial, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud


SM words green background

We say: Sweden 1-2 France

Sweden are certainly capable of making it a difficult evening for the world champions, but we just believe that France will have too much quality in the final third of the field, with Martial, Griezmann and Mbappe potentially operating behind lone forward Olivier Giroud.



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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sweden win with a probability of 39.26%. A win for France had a probability of 32.64% and a draw had a probability of 28.1%.

The most likely scoreline for a Sweden win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.02%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.1%) and 2-0 (7.4%). The likeliest France win was 0-1 (10.7%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.17%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 10.7% likelihood.


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France boss Didier Deschamps on November 14, 2019
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Tables header RHS

League A1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal642014
Q Croatia Croatia62228
3 Scotland flag Scotland62137
4 Poland Poland61144

League A2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France641113
Q Italy Italy641113
3 Belgium Belgium61144
4 Israel Israel61144

League A3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany642014
Q Netherlands Netherlands62319
3 Hungary Hungary61326
4 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina60242

League A4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain651016
Q Denmark Denmark62228
3 Serbia Serbia61326
4 Switzerland Switzerland60242

League B1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic632111
2 Ukraine Ukraine62228
3 Georgia Georgia62137
4 Albania national flag Albania62137

League B2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England650115
2 Greece Greece650115
3 Ireland Rep. Ireland62046
4 Finland Finland60060

League B3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Norway Norway641113
2 Austria Austria632111
3 Slovenia Slovenia62228
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan60151

League B4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Wales flag Wales633012
2 Turkey Turkey632111
3 Iceland Iceland62137
4 Montenegro Montenegro61053

League C1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Sweden Sweden651016
2 Slovakia Slovakia641113
3 Estonia Estonia61144
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan60151

League C2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania550015
2 Kosovo flag Kosovo540112
3 Cyprus Cyprus62046
4 Lithuania Lithuania60060

League C3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland632111
2 Bulgaria Bulgaria62319
3 Belarus Belarus61417
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg60333

League C4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Macedonia N. Macedonia651016
2 Armenia Armenia62137
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands61326
4 Latvia Latvia61144

League D1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q San Marino flag San Marino42117
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar41306
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein40222

League D2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Republic of Moldova Moldova43019
2 Malta flag Malta42117
3 Andorra flag Andorra40131


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