Sweden returns to Russia for the first time after their exploits at the World Cup where they reached the quarterfinals despite being in the same group as Germany who failed to make it to the knockout stages.

Russia reached the last 8 of the World Cup so it is a little bit surprising to some that they have been placed in the second tier of the European Nations League alongside Sweden.  They will both be eager to get promotion to the top tier.

Russia’s run at the World Cup has boosted football in the country.

They have kept up that momentum, and CSKA Moscow’s recent win over Real Madrid in the Champions League shows how strong they are becoming as a footballing nation.

Sweden, on the other hand, haven’t recovered from their 2-0 loss to England at the World Cup semifinals.

They were beaten by Austria who didn’t qualify for the World Cup in their first post-World Cup game, and when they were expected to bounce back in their first Euro Nations League game against Turkey, they lost 3-2 at home again.

Another defeat here would relegate Sweden from this tier of the competition.

Russia have played well since the end of the World Cup.  They beat Turkey 2-1 in their first Euro Nations League game before thrashing Czech Republic 5-1, so this game looks like it could go their way, but football doesn’t always work like that.

Bookmakers make Russia favourites to come out on top while goal markets are expecting a very tight, low-scoring game.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Russia

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
W	Russia		5-1		Czech Republic	10 Sep, 2018	International Friendly
W	Turkey		1-2		Russia	7 Sep, 2018	Nations League
L	Russia		2-2		Croatia	7 Jul, 2018	FIFA World Cup
W	Spain		1-1		Russia	1 Jul, 2018	FIFA World Cup
L	Uruguay		3-0		Russia	25 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup

Sweden

LAST FIVE GAMES						DATE	COMPETITION
L	Sweden		2-3		Turkey	10 Sep, 2018	Nations League
L	Austria		2-0		Sweden	6 Sep, 2018	International Friendly
L	Sweden		0-2		England	7 Jul, 2018	FIFA World Cup
W	Sweden		1-0		Switzerland	3 Jul, 2018	FIFA World Cup
W	Mexico		0-3		Sweden	27 Jun, 2018	FIFA World Cup

H2H

No recent H2H meetings.