Our prediction for this Nations League match:
All eyes will be on Stadion Rajko Mitic when Serbia and Sweden face each other in a highly-anticipated Nations League game. The Serbs did well to qualify for the 2022 World Cup finals, with Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring the winner in the decider against Portugal. Dragan Stojkovic’s men aim to give fans yet another reason for celebration, and they are likely to stick to their attacking style of play. Goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic is banned for the match, while Stefan Mitrovic (Crvena zvezda) and Srdjan Babic (Almeria) have received their first call-ups.
Key defender Nikola Milenkovic remains in the recovery room, but both Dusan Tadic and Aleksandar Mitrovic will start against Sweden. The visitors, on the other hand, are on a three-game losing run in Group 4, which is probably the main reason why we are going to bet on Serbia. Isak Hien and Patrik Walemark could make their Sweden debuts in Saturday’s clash, while all Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Albin Ekdal, Hjalmar Ekdall, and Emil Krafth miss out for the visiting side.
Highlighted Player (Nemanja Matic):
Nemanja Matic is a Serbian footballer who plays for Premier League side Chelsea. The 194-cm-tall midfielder was born on 1 August, 1988 and he began his football career (youth) at Radnicki Obrenovac.
In 2005 he signed for Kolubara and after impressing with Kosice in the 2008/2009 campaign, Chelsea owners decided to sign him. Nemanja spent the 2010/2011 season on loan at Vitesse and at the end of the season he signed a deal with Portuguese giants Benfica, with David Luiz heading in the other direction.
Matic was in the form of his life in the 2013/2014 Primeira Liga campaign and he helped the Eagles clinch the domestic trophy. He rejoined Chelsea in 2014 for a fee of €25M and he helped the Blues win the Premier League title in the 2014/2015 season. Nemanja Matic has also developed into a key member of the Serbian national team that have been largely struggling of late.
Highlighted Team (Sweden):
Sweden are the most successful Nordic side on international stage having been present at major competitions since 1934. Blagult missed out on the 1952 World Cup trophy on home soil as they were beaten by star-studded Brazil side, while they finished in third place at the 1950 and 1994 tournaments, and finishing fourth on their second appearance in 1938.
As far as their European Championship record is concerned, Sweden also achieved their best result in front of home fans, reaching the last four in 1992, and they have since reached the quarter-finals at Euro 1994 in Portugal.
Anders Svensson and Thomas Ravelli are team’s most capped players with over 140 appearances each, but it is strikers Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic that will go down as the most famous Swedish footballers in history. The later also leads the goalscoring charts with over 60 strikes for the national team and he is widely regarded as one of the most colourful characters, not only in Scandinavia, but in world football.