Slovenia vs Sweden – 02/06/2022
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UEFA Nations League B Group 4 is a dreadful group with Slovenia, Sweden, Norway, and Serbia all competing for promotion to League A.
Group 4 is the group of death in League B and a loss on matchday 1 could hurt Slovenia or Sweden’s chances of progressing to League A.
De här avsluten från Alexander Isak! ??
Imorgon möter herrlandslaget Slovenien i den första Nations League-matchen! ????? pic.twitter.com/h4g5NHV6Aq
— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) June 1, 2022
On Thursday, Slovenia will host Sweden in Ljubljana. The Swedes are coming off of failure to qualify for the World Cup, losing in the playoffs to Poland. Now, they must dust themselves off to play the UEFA Nations League.
Slovenia also missed out on qualification to the World Cup. They are unbeaten in 2022 with a 1-1 draw with Croatia and a nil-nil draw with Qatar in international friendlies.
Sweden, on the other hand, go into the game this week losers of three of their last four games in all competitions. Their only positive result was a draw versus the Czech Republic in the World Cup playoffs. Sweden went on to win the game in extra-time.
These teams have met just two times previously with Sweden picking up a 1-0 win in 2008 and the teams drawing nil-nil in 2016. There have been no recent matches between Slovenia and Sweden, and no trends have formed between them.
Slovenia head coach Matjaž Kek doesn’t have the strongest squad on paper. Andraz Sporar could lead the line against Sweden. The Middlesbrough man has five international goals in 35 games.
At the back, Slovenia have one of the world’s best goalkeepers. Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak will man the net and will be difficult for Sweden to get by.
Sweden are not a high-scoring team. The Swedes scored zero goals in regulation in their last four games in all competitions. Although Sweden are ranked No. 19 by FIFA, coach Janne Andersson hasn’t looked as strong as their ranking indicates.
Aston Villa back-up goalkeeper Robin Olsen could start in net. Manchester United centre-back Victor Lindelof was not selected for the tournament. It was a strange move as Lindelof was the Swedish captain.
Emil Krath, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Ludwig Augustinsson, and Carl Starfelt will all be in line to play in the Sweden defence. Dejan Kulusevski could be deployed as a striker versus Slovenia.
Sweden’s lack of goals should continue against an improving Slovenia team. Thursday’s game should see Slovenia gain a narrow 1-0 win at home. It will be Sweden’s fifth straight game without a goal in 90 minutes.
