Preview: Sweden vs. Moldova - prediction, team news, lineups

Sweden have a difficult Euro 2024 qualifying match away to Belgium on Monday, while Moldova travel to Poland one day prior to that.

Match preview

Indeed, having lost home and away to Austria as well as at home to Belgium in Group F, Sweden will almost certainly be relying on qualifying for the play-offs in order to avoid missing out on reaching the European Championships for the first time since 1996.

Sweden's extremely slim hopes of claiming one of the top two spots in the group - which guarantee automatic qualification for next summer's major tournament in Germany - are resting on them winning all of their final three games, while praying for either Austria or Belgium to pick up no more than one or two points apiece from their own remaining matches.

Those two nations meet each other on Friday for a chance to seal their qualification with a victory, meaning Sweden could travel to Brussels on Monday knowing that one of the two spots have already been taken away from them.

In truth, the damage has probably already been done in that regard, but every point they can pick up between now and the end of the campaign will be crucial with only limited play-off spots available to them due to some teams' performances in the UEFA Nations League already guaranteeing them another shot at redemption.

In the meantime, head coach Janne Andersson - who is under more pressure than at any stage since taking over in June 2016 after also missing out on reaching last year's World Cup - will expect to see his side return to winning ways against Moldova on Thursday.

However, Moldova should not be taken lightly by their higher-ranked opponents, with Serghei Clescenco's side remaining firmly in the hunt to qualify for a major tournament for the first time in their history.

Since becoming an independent nation after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's, Moldova have never really been close to qualifying for a World Cup or European Championship, with their best effort being their first ever attempt when finishing fourth in their group with three wins in Euro 1996 qualifying.

However, back-to-back wins against Poland and Faroe Islands have seen The Tricolours move up to third spot in Group E, two points behind leaders Albania and level on points with Czech Republic, who admittedly have a game in hand on the rest of the group.

In between those victories, Moldova secured an impressive 1-1 draw away to Austria in their last friendly last month, suggesting they will have every chance of at least avoiding defeat once again in Stockholm before making a crucial trip to Poland at the weekend.

Sweden friendly form:

W

W

W

Sweden form (all competitions):

L

W

W

L

W

L

Moldova friendly form:

D

Moldova form (all competitions):

D

D

L

W

D

W

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Team News

Despite their recent struggles, Andersson has gone with the tried and trusted for the most part, with Viktor Johansson of Rotherham United the only uncapped player in the entire squad.

However, the likes of Alexander Isak and Dejan Kulusevski may not be risked from the outset in a friendly match, with the Premier League duo's star quality set to be required at their optimum levels against Belgium on Monday.

Moldova, meanwhile, are likely to name an unchanged starting XI from the side which secured a crucial 1-0 win away to Faroe Islands in their last match in September.

Captain Vadim Rata, who plays his club football at Voluntari, scored the winner in that match and the 30-year-old will almost certainly earn his 40th cap within the visitors' engine room.

Sweden possible starting lineup:

Olsen; Holm, Lagerbielke, Lindelof, Sema; Claesson, Larsson, Gustafson, Forsberg; Elanga, Gyokores

Moldova possible starting lineup:

Railean; Revenco, Baboglo, Craciun, Posmac, Marandici; Damascan, Rata, Motpan, Stina; Nicolaescu

We say: Sweden 1-0 Moldova

With both nations having more important qualifying fixtures on the horizon, it is difficult to envisage either playing this friendly at full intensity, but the hosts clearly have more to prove after a difficult run of results.

Sweden's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2024 appear to be very slim at this stage, whereas Moldova could compete at a major tournament for the first time in their history after winning consecutive matches, but we believe Andersson's side will return to victorious ways here.

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