Looking to strengthen their promotion push following victory earlier in the week, Sweden will welcome Estonia to Strawberry Arena in Solna for a UEFA Nations League C match on Sunday night.
Blagult secured an impressive away success in Azerbaijan on Thursday night, whilst the Blueshirts suffered a one-goal defeat at home to Euro 2024 surprise package Slovakia.
Match preview
© Imago
After losing three out of four friendly fixtures at the start of his reign in the managerial hotseat, Jon Dahl Tomasson recorded a maiden competitive victory as Sweden head coach at the first attempt on Thursday night, securing a 3-1 success over Azerbaijan in Baku to begin the 2024-25 Nations League schedule.
Following their relegation from League B during the last edition, Blagult possesses some of the hottest attacking talent in League C this time around, with Alexander Isak bagging a brace and Sporting Lisbon talisman Viktor Gyokeres finding the net to seal a win over Fernando Santos's troops.
That being said, Sweden took a while to reach top gear in Baku and could have found themselves behind just before the half-time break, when Stoke City goalkeeper Viktor Johansson denied Azerbaijan's Ramil Sheydaev from the penalty spot, with the 25-year-old replicating his good performances from the Championship in recent years.
Blagult will be looking to avoid a repeat of their most recent home fixture on June 8, when Sunday's hosts welcomed Euro 2024-bound Serbia to Friends Arena, with the visitors securing a three-goal victory courtesy of strikes from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Tadic.
Whilst under the interim stewardship of Under-21s coach Daniel Backstrom in January, Sweden recorded a 2-1 friendly win over this weekend's opponents, with Sebastian Nanasi and Isaac Kiese Thelin finding the net for the hosts.
With Slovakia and Sweden residing in the four-team section, Estonia face an uphill task as they aim to secure a top-two finish in this season's Nations League, with Sunday's visitors to Solna suffering an opening-round defeat at the hands of Francesco Calzona's side in Tallinn on Thursday.
Creating just 0.16 expected goals and enjoying only 39% possession, it was a difficult evening for the Blueshirts last time out, with a second-half strike from Slovakian winger Tomas Suslov, who currently plays for Hellas Verona in Italy, securing maximum points for one of England's Euro 2024 victims.
After narrowly missing out on a result earlier in the week, Estonia are back on the road in a competitive sense for the first time since a sobering night in Warsaw during March, when Thomas Haberli's side suffered a 5-1 defeat to Poland in their Euro 2024 playoff semi-final.
Following a trophy-laden six-year spell in charge of Estonian powerhouses Flora Tallinn, Jurgen Henn is now in control of the national team, with the 39-year-old tasked with keeping his country afloat in a tricky-looking League C section.
Team News
© Imago
After being replaced at half time in Azerbaijan on Thursday, Sweden winger Anthony Elanga could be dropped from the starting XI to make room for Ken Sema.
With Robin Olsen out of action due to injury, Stoke shot-stopper Johansson has surely done enough to keep his spot in between the sticks ahead of Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.
Following cameos off the bench last time out, the likes of Tottenham Hotspur prodigy Lucas Bergvall and Ipswich Town man Jens-Lys Cajuste will be pushing for starts.
Estonia remain without the services of centre-back Maksim Paskotsi, who picked up a knock whilst on duty for club side Grasshopper in August.
After failing to find the net against Slovakia, the Blueshirts could make some alterations to their attacking line, with Ioan Yakovlev a candidate to be promoted from the bench.
Sweden possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Egnell, Douglas, Hien, Augustinsson; Bergvall, Saletros; Kulusevski, Isak, Sema; Gyokeres
Estonia possible starting lineup:
Hein; Lilander, Tamm, Mets, Schjonning-Larsen; Miller, Ainsalu, Shein, Sinyavskiy, Sappinen; Yakovlev
We say: Sweden 3-0 Estonia
Sweden possess attacking talent that does not belong in Nations League C, with the likes of Isak and Gyokeres set to put Estonia to the sword on Sunday night.
The Blueshirts have struggled on the road in recent times, and we cannot envisage a positive result for the visitors at Strawberry Arena this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
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