Sports Mole previews Monday’s Nations League clash between Estonia and Sweden, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sweden will look to maintain their unbeaten start to the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League when they travel to Tallinn for Monday’s clash with Estonia.
Meanwhile, the hosts will be looking to claim a second straight win after getting the better of Azerbaijan on matchday three.
Match preview
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Estonia are competing in their League C campaign after winning promotion with a dominant 2022-23 Nations League campaign.
They scored 10 goals and conceded twice as they took maximum points from four matches to a group which contained Malta and San Marino.
After cruising to promotion, Estonia were given a reality check in their first two matches of the 2024-25 Nations League.
Jurgen Henn‘s side fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat in their opening game against Slovakia, before they shipped three goals without reply in a difficult away outing against Sweden.
However, Estonia finally got off the mark in Friday’s home clash against Azerbaijan, with Ioan Yakovlev, Vlasiy Sinyavskiy and Rocco Robert Shein grabbing a goal apiece to fire Estonia to a 3-0 victory, moving them up to third position in Group C1.
Having lost just one of their last seven Nations League home games, Estonia will be looking to make full use of home advantage to end a run of five consecutive defeats in head-to-head meetings with Sweden.
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Sweden are competing in the League C for the first time after suffering back-to-back relegations in the Nations League.
After being demoted from League A in 2018-19, Sweden experienced another disappointing campaign in 2022-23, suffering another relegation after mustering just four points from six matches.
Sweden have made an impressive start to their bid to win promotion back to League B, having won two and drawn one of their three matches in the 2024-25 Nations League.
Jon Dahl Tomasson‘s side kicked off their campaign with a 3-1 away win over Azerbaijan, before they cruised to a 3-0 home victory against Estonia thanks to a Viktor Gyokeres brace and an Alexander Isak effort.
However, Sweden spurned the opportunity to claim a third consecutive victory in Friday’s away clash against Slovakia, with Yasin Ayari and Kem Sema seeing their efforts cancelled out by a David Strelec brace.
Despite giving up a two-goal, the Blagult are currently sitting top of Group C1 due to their goal-difference advantage over Slovakia, and they will be looking to tighten their grip on top spot by recording their fourth away win in Nations League history in Monday’s meeting with Estonia.
Estonia Nations League form:
Estonia form (all competitions):
Sweden Nations League form:
Sweden form (all competitions):
Team News
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Estonia defender Makism Paskotsi is likely to miss out after he was forced off in the first half against Azerbaijan.
Rasmus Peetson came off the bench to replace Paskotsi in Friday’s contest, and he is now in contention to earn his first Nations League start.
Martin Vetkal may also be given a starting opportunity, with Shein set to serve a one-match suspension due to yellow card accumulation.
Meanwhile, Sweden are unable to call upon Robin Olsen, Carl Starfelt, Eric Smith and Gustaf Nilsson after the quartet withdrew from the initial squad.
The visitors also have to cope without the likes of Jens Cajuste, Mattias Svanberg, and Isak due to their respective injury issues.
Victor Lindelof and Hugo Larsson could be considered for starting spots after they came off the bench just after the hour mark against Slovakia.
Estonia possible starting lineup:
Hein; Peetson, Tamm, Mets, Schjonning-Larsen; Ainsalu, Shein; Yakovlev, Kait, Sinyavskiy; Anier
Sweden possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Lindelof, Hien, Gudmundsson; Eliasson, Larsson, Karlstrom, Saletros, Sema; Gyokeres, Kulusevski
We say: Estonia 1-3 Sweden
Sweden have only won three of their 10 away Nations League matches, but we still believe they will take three points from Monday’s fixture, having won each of their previous five meetings with Estonia, including a 5-0 victory in their most recent away encounter in September 2023.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.