Sweden vs Turkey Predictions

Turkey head to Sweden this week, and they have a huge task on their hands in Solna. They need to claim three points at the Friends Arena, following their opening defeat in the UEFA Nations League. The visitors have been handed a tough group, as they are meeting two World Cup quarter-finalists despite being in League B – which should supposedly contain second tier teams. They meet a solid Swedish side in their second clash in this new competition, but will the Swedes carry on their World Cup form?

The hosts just lost 2-0 away in Austria, but they’ll be hoping home comforts can lead them to a win over Turkey. Their run to the last eight in Russia came to an end when they lost to England, but their displays across the five matches saw them leave the World Cup with credit. There’s now going to be pressure on them to follow that up with promotion to the top tier, so they’ll need to win their opening match in this competition.

For Turkey, defeat on Monday means they’ll have no points at the half-way point of their campaign. The visitors missed out the tournament in Russia, struggling to match the likes of Iceland and Croatia. The visitors had managed to kick off an unbeaten run following their failure in qualifying, but they ended that with a 2-1 loss at home to Russia, which doesn’t bode well for their future. As a result, they’re outsiders ahead of their first visit to Sweden in 18 years.

While the hosts lost in Austria, they’ll be delighted to get back to competitive football. They made the last eight in Russia thanks to a strong campaign in qualifying, which included their shocking win over Italy in the play-offs. They built their run to the tournament on their home form, and that’s likely to give them a boost during their push for promotion in the Nations League.

They went unbeaten at home during World Cup qualifying. That included a 2-1 win over France and a 1-0 victory agaisnt Italy. We’ve seen the quality of the Swedish defence, and they’ve got a habit of edging matches at home. Meanwhile, Turkey failed to win all but one of their away trips in qualifying, and that was at Kosovo. We expect them to follow up defeats to nil at Ukraine and Iceland with a loss here, so we’re going with a Sweden win, and a 1-0 correct score.