Preview: Sweden vs. Serbia – Prediction, Team News, Lineups
Both intending to bounce back from midweek friendly defeats, Sweden and Serbia cross paths at the Friends Arena in Solna on Saturday.
A penny for the thoughts of newly-appointed Sweden boss Jon Dahl Tomasson as his Blue and Yellow crop lined up against the country of his birth, who took all of two minutes to break the deadlock on Wednesday evening through Tottenham Hotspur’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Defeat in Copenhagen followed the script for Sweden, who have strung together a win-loss-win-loss pattern in their opening four friendlies of 2024, also being thrashed by Portugal in between successes over Albania and Estonia, the latter of whom they also bested in Euro 2024 qualifying.
On the contrary, Serbia will among Europe’s 24 finest teams scrapping it out for a slice of international glory in Germany, where Sweden’s recent conquerors Denmark, 2020 runners-up England and an ever-improving Slovenia side will provide stern opposition in Group C.
After an injury-disrupted season with Burnley, Swedish defender Hjalmar Ekdal’s luckless streak continued, as he came on as a half-time substitute but only lasted eight minutes before being stretchered off with a hamstring problem.
Sweden possible starting lineup: Olsen; Krafth, Hien, Lindelof, Cajuste; Olsson, Larsson; Kukusevski, Forsberg, Elanga; Isak
Serbia possible starting lineup: Rajkovic; Spajic, Milenkovic, Gudelj, Pavlovic; Ilic, Milinkovic-Savic; Zivkovic, Tadic, Birmancevic; Mitrovic
We say: Sweden 1-1 Serbia
With lethal marksmen at both ends of the field, goals should be a guarantee on Saturday, and Serbia have typically responded well to suffering defeat over the past year. Such an ability to bounce back may not extend to victory on Swedish soil, as Tomasson’s side gave Denmark a terrific run for their money and can realistically hope for a score draw, a marked improvement on their Nations League affairs with the Serbians.