Russia at Sweden 11/20/18 - UEFA Nations League Picks & Predictions

There is a massive match-up coming our way on Tuesday, when Sweden will play host to Russia in the final match of this round of the UEFA Nations League. Sweden are coming off a strong win on the road against Turkey and will now need to win at least by two in order to top the group. Russia need to stay calm in this match and protect what they have built so far in the competition.

Sweden (1-1-1) will surely be feeling confident about qualifying after the outcome of their last match, where they escaped Turkey with all three points. It wasn’t a very pretty match in the first half where the two teams, and especially Sweden, failed to record a lot of scoring chances. But Sweden quickly got their heads together and were much better in the second half. They eventually scored the only goal of that match at the 71st minute when they successfully shot a penalty kick. Sweden are now sitting 2nd in the group with 4 points. Russia are top with 7, so Sweden need a win by at least two goals in order to seize the top spot. Russia (2-0-1) are coming off a tough 0-3 loss on the road against Germany in a friendly match on Thursday. They protected all their first-team players in that match, in preparation of this match against Sweden. Germany also used mostly reserves, but their reserves are much better that those of Russia. They had already scored three goals by the end of the first half and there was nothing Russia could do at that point. They will now look to avoid a big loss that would drop them from the top spot of the group, as a loss by one goal would still be enough to see them through.