Russia have picked up where they left off at the World Cup where they had a pretty impressive outing at the tournament in front of their own fans. The Sbornaya as they are fondly called exceeded all expectations at the World Cup beating Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the group stage, defeated 2010 Champions Spain in the round of 16, before eventually falling short in the quarter-finals, losing to finalists Croatia on penalties after ending full time and extra-time two goals apiece.
They have started their UEFA Nations League group B campaign in like fashion, beating Turkey 2-1 away and following it up with a 5-1 home thrashing of the Czech Republic in an international friendly match. Russia were superb in the opening group game against Turkey scoring as early as the 13th minute through Denis Cherysev but couldn’t see out the half as Turkey equalised in the 41st minute through Aziz. Stanislav Cherchesov’s men would start the second half on the front foot scoring the winner in the 49th minute but their performance petered out for much of the remainder of the game.
Sweden had a fairly good run at the World Cup losing to semi-finalist England in the Quarter Final. A day before Russia took on Turkey in the UEFA Nations league group B2 opener, Sweden lost 0-2 to the Austrians in an international friendly match. They faced Turkey in their opening game in the league and raced to a two goal lead courtesy Thelin and Claesson in the 34th and 49th minute. Turkey pulled one back through Hakan Calhanoglu in the 51st minute while Akbaba scored two late goals to dent Sweden’s hopes and run out 3-2 winners. That defeat leaves Sweden rock bottom of group B2 with zero points.
Russia will be without the long-serving defensive giant in Sergei Ignashevich who decided to retire after his exploits at the World Cup and will look to the future with younger players. Aleksandr Golovin will be the torch-bearer for this generation of Russian players while Anton and Aleksei Miranchuk will lead the supporting cast. 27-year-old Denis Cheryshev who reignited his international career by scoring four goals in five games at the World Cup is also expected to spearhead the attack.
The Swedes who favoured a counter-attacking game at the World Cup have failed to reap the fruits so far in the UEFA Nations League and will have to halt such reactive football to play on the front foot if they do not want to find themselves relegated from this group. The Scandinavians have little room left to wiggle if they are to head the group as many expected. Since the retirement of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden have tried to refresh their squad with young players whilst also retaining some old heads. In the fold remains established players like Sebastian Larsson, Robin Olsen, Mikael Lustig and Marcus Berg to lead the younger generation into the future.
These two teams last met in the qualifying rounds of the Euro 2016 Cup. They played out a 1-1 draw in Sweden but Russia won at home 1-0. Russia are on form and in a good way however Sweden will see this game as a must win if they still harbour any hopes of topping the group.
Verdict
I fancy Russia to win this but Sweden can be a tough side to breakdown but don't look like the side they used to be. I am going to go 2-0 to Russia, home advantage and current form all point to an easy victory for the home side.