Victorious on the opening day of the new UEFA Nations League campaign, Nordic neighbours Sweden and Norway now continue a long-standing rivalry in Stockholm on Sunday.
Tied at the top of the early League B Group 4 standings, the two teams will fight it out for the right to go three points clear in pursuit of promotion to Europe's top tier.
Match preview
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After being relegated from the Nations League's upper echelon and then falling at the first knockout stage of Euro 2020, Sweden faced even greater disappointment in March, when they came up short in their efforts to reach this winter's World Cup.
Heading into November, the Scandinavian nation were well on course to qualify automatically for Qatar 2022 ahead of continental heavyweights Spain, but defeats to Georgia and their Spanish rivals sent them into the playoffs, where they subsequently lost to Poland in the final.
Facing a rebuild, more in terms of morale and momentum than of personnel, head coach Janne Andersson now leads his team through an intense spell of Nations League action, which started on Thursday, when they took on a Slovenia team who only won promotion from League C in the competition's most recent edition.
In a closely contested affair, Sweden emerged from their opening game of the 2022-23 campaign with a 2-0 win in Ljubljana, as they struck at the end of either half, through an Emil Forsberg penalty and Dejan Kulusevski's superb late goal.
That victory took Andersson's tally to 13 wins from his last 20 games, but the long-serving manager will surely have his hands full in the coming days.
Between this week's clash with Norway and the return fixture next Tuesday, the Swedes must host a talented Serbia side that directly qualified for the World Cup ahead of Portugal, but the nation's 110th meeting with their Nordic rivals takes precedence on Sunday.
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Much like Sweden - who they have only beaten 24 times in 109 previous attempts - a World Cup qualification campaign which started out with hope ended in failure for Norway, as they finished third in their group, behind the Netherlands and Turkey.
Stale Solbakken's young side will not, therefore, be preparing to perform on the game's greatest stage this winter, and despite a promising generation arising, they have yet to return to the finals since 1998.
They did, though, concede at a rate of less than a goal per game in qualifying, and proved similarly stingy in their last Nations League campaign, when they battled their way to second spot behind group winners Austria in 2020 - a commendable result at League B level.
Following successive friendly wins in March - without conceding a goal against either Slovakia or Armenia - the Lions visited Serbia at the notorious 'Marakana' on Thursday, and eked out a 1-0 victory against the run of play.
Despite their hosts dominating the ball and firing in far more shots on goal, Norway called upon the predatory talents of Manchester City-bound Erling Haaland to decide the points' destiny, as the domineering frontman struck midway through the first half, and they were ultimately able to hold out until the final whistle.
Set to welcome outsiders Slovenia and then Sweden to Oslo in next week's fixtures, if Haaland and company can take even a point home from Sunday's game, they will be well-placed to take a stranglehold on the leadership of Group 4.
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Team News
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Sweden coach Janne Andersson was forced to deploy a new partnership at the heart of his back four on Thursday, as Victor Lindelof withdrew from this month's camp and Marcus Danielson retired from international football following the playoff defeat to Poland.
Celtic's Carl Starfelt picked up a knock against Slovenia though, so Joakim Nilsson should now join forces with Alexander Milosevic. Uncapped Hjalmar Ekdal - brother of veteran midfielder Albin Ekdal, who is ruled out due to injury - offers another option.
Martin Olsson and attacking talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic are also sidelined by injury problems, while Kerim Mrabti pulled out of training last week. However, Andersson is hopeful of having Anthony Elanga back in the fold this weekend, and the Manchester United winger could even appear in a front three also featuring Alexander Isak and in-form Dejan Kulusevski.
Meanwhile, Norway will rely upon Erling Haaland - who netted 22 goals in 24 Bundesliga games for Borussia Dortmund last term - to lead their attack once again, with support from captain and creative fulcrum Martin Odegaard. Real Sociedad striker Alexander Sorloth, a clubmate of Isak's, provides a useful alternative from the bench.
Defensive duo Omar Elabdellaoui and Kristoffer Ajer are absent from Staale Solbakken's squad, so Brighton centre-back Leo Ostigard, Salernitana's Stefan Strandberg and Andreas Hanche-Olsen, of Gent, will compete for two places in a probable 4-1-4-1 formation.
Sweden possible starting lineup:
Olsen; Krafth, Milosevic, Nilsson, Augustinsson; Forsberg, Karlstrom, Olsson; Kulusevski, Isak, Claesson
Norway possible starting lineup:
Nyland; Pedersen, Strandberg, Ostigard, Meling; Aursnes; Thorsby, Berge, Odegaard, Elyounoussi; Haaland
We say: Sweden 1-1 Norway
As neither side tends to concede too many goals, and this contest comes early in the Nations League process, there is every chance a low-scoring draw will be the result on Sunday.
Both teams are well versed at holding more technically-gifted nations at bay, so taking the initiative does not always come easily - though Norway's new generation can be impressively fearless on their day.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
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