Our prediction for this Nations League match:
All eyes will be on Friends Arena when Sweden and Serbia go head to head in the Nations League B group 4. The Scandinavians kicked off their NL campaign in style, with the team beating Slovenia 2-0 on the road, but they failed to impress in a 2-1 loss to Erling Haland’s Norway. The Swedes are eager to get back on course as soon as possible, but the games against Dragan Stojkovic’s troops will be anything but a walk in the park for the home side.
Man Utd Anthony Elanga is likely to return to the starting XI, while veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been omitted. The Eagles, on the other hand, quickly bounced back from a 1-0 loss to Norway, with the team rolling over Slovenia 4-1 in their second group game. Given Serbia’s attacking potential, we believe that both teams to score betting option should be considered. Juventus attacker Dusan Vlahovic has been ruled out with injury.
Highlighted Player (Karl-Johan Johnsson):
Born in Ranneslov (Sweden) on January 28, 1990 Karl-Johan Johansson started his youth career at his home-town club Ranneslovs GIF. In 2005 he joined Halmstadts and four years later he made his first-team debut for HBK. The 187-cm-tall goalkeeper made 67 appearances in the league for Halmstads and in 2013 he signed for NEC as a free agent.
Karl-Johan Johnsson played 30 games for the Dutch club during the 2013/2014 Eredivisie campaign and in the summer of 2014 he moved to Randers. The Swedish shoot-stopper spent two seasons at Randers and in 2016 he moved to French club Guingamp. It has to be noted that he managed to keep nine clean sheets in 37 appearances for Guingamp in the 2016/2017 Ligue 1 campaign.
His contract with the club expires on June 30, 2020. Speaking of his international career, Karl-Johan Johnsson has 17 caps for Sweden U21 and he made his senior debut in 2012 against Qatar.
Highlighted Team (Serbia):
Serbia have been playing as an independent nation since 2006. The Serbs made it to the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals and despite defeating star-studded Germany in the group stages of the showpiece tournament in South Africa, they eventually failed to book their place in the last 16. The Eagles, though, failed to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil as they experienced all sorts of problems in their qualifying group.
A number of top-class footballers played for Serbia and former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the Serbian national team. Vidic scored two goals in 56 appearances for Serbia and he announced his retirement from the national team on 24 October, 2011.
The Eagles play their home game at Stadion Rajko Mitic and it has to be noted that they defeated Czech Republic 3-1 in their first international game under the name of Serbia. Serbia play their home games in red shirts and red shorts, while the colour of their away kit is white.