Sports Mole previews Monday’s World Cup Qualifying – Europe clash between Sweden and Kosovo, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sweden will be looking to hit the restart button on their World Cup qualifying campaign when they welcome Kosovo to Gothenburg this Monday night.
The Swedes are currently rock bottom of their group, having picked up one measly point from their three games, while the Dardanians are well in the hunt for what would be an unprecedented qualifying bid.
Match preview
Sweden’s hopes of booking their ticket to North America next summer are hanging by a thread following a woeful start to their qualifying group.
The Swedes kicked off their campaign with a 2-2 draw away in Slovenia, though they have since backed it up with defeats to Kosovo and, most recently, Switzerland.
The pressure on manager Jon Dahl Tomasson is at an all-time high, with fans unveiling a couple of controversial banners during Friday’s defeat to the Swiss – one of which called on the coach to resign, while the other simply said ‘Danish b*****d’.
One of the leading sports publications in Sweden, Sportbladet, asked readers whether Tomasson deserved to be sacked over his poor start to the qualifiers, and unsurprisingly a total of 90% of the 40,000 respondents called for his head.
The Swedes have only qualified for one of their last four World Cups, and while Tomasson assured fans that qualification is still within reach, fans are not in a rush to book their flights to North America.
With regards to Monday’s game, Sweden will be looking to have their revenge after losing 2-0 to Kosovo last month – a game which will go down as one of their most shocking defeats in modern history.
Speaking of Kosovo, the Dardanians proved that their win over Sweden was no fluke, as they backed up the famous victory with an encouraging goalless draw against Slovenia.
Realistically speaking, Kosovo are unlikely to catch group leaders Switzerland, who have won all three of their group games to nil.
Instead, Franco Foda’s men are focused on keeping their noses ahead of Slovenia and Sweden – something that could earn them progression into the qualifying play-offs should they finish second in the group.
Considering Kosovo were ranked as low as 177th just eight years ago, their sole inclusion in the play-off conversation marks a huge step in their development.
The Dardanians are in the midst of an incredible run, losing just one of their last eight matches and winning six of them. On top of that, Kosovo have kept successive clean sheets and head to Gothenburg with serious momentum.
Sweden World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
D L L
Sweden form (all competitions):
W W W D L L
Kosovo World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:
L W D
Kosovo form (all competitions):
W W W L W D
Team News
Sweden are currently without veteran goalkeeper Robin Olsen, who endured a public fallout with manager Tomasson.
The Malmo FF keeper was left frustrated with the Danish coach, telling Aftonbladet in an explosive interview that he will not play for the national side until there is a change of leadership.
Stoke City’s Viktor Johansson took Olsen’s spot in recent internationals, and he is expected to remain between the sticks for the visit of Kosovo.
On paper, the Swedes boast a frightening attacking lineup with Liverpool’s Alexander Isak and Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres in the squad, though both have failed to impress in recent outings for their country.
Roony Bardghji made a good impression when coming off the bench against Switzerland, and he could get himself a start on Monday.
Kosovo are without right midfielder Florian Haxha, who withdrew from the squad due to a health problem.
Mallorca striker Vedat Muriqi offers the biggest attacking threat for his side, having scored a record 32 international goals from 62 appearances.
Mergim Vojvoda, meanwhile, offers the most experience in the team, having made a record 68th Kosovo appearance on Friday.
Sweden possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Gudmundsson, Hien, Lagerbielke; Bardghji, Ayari, Karlstrom, Bergvall, Bernhardsson; Isak, Gyokeres
Kosovo possible starting lineup:
Muric; Gallapeni, Aliti, Hajdari, Krasniqi; Rexhbecaj, Avdullahu, Vojvoda; Rrahmani, Muriqi, Muslija
We say: Sweden 2-1 Kosovo
This is a must-win game for the Swedes, and we are backing the hosts to get the job done in front of their home fans.
Despite their poor form, the gulf in quality between both squads is huge, and it is a matter of time before the Swedes find some rhythm. A tight game is in prospect, but we are siding with the home team.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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