Sweden vs Belarus Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s swansong in France in the summer didn’t exactly go to plan as Sweden were eliminated with just one point from their group stage matches, failing to score in two of their games and generally putting in some largely drab performances.

They started life without their talisman in fairly good fashion as they earned a 1-1 draw at home to the Netherlands in September, and they followed that with victories over Luxembourg and Bulgaria before falling to a 2-1 defeat to France.

All in all it’s been a good performance from Sweden, and even their defeat against a star studded France team was very impressive considering they were away from home. This has left them 3rd in their World Cup qualifying group, level on points with 2nd placed Netherlands and only three adrift of top spot holders France. Bulgaria are only a point behind them though.

Belarus sit below Bulgaria with just two points from their four matches so far. These points came at home to France and Luxembourg, but both of their away games have resulted in defeat so far. They lost 4-1 to Netherlands and 1-0 to Bulgaria, although friendly victories over Republic of Ireland, Norway, and Greece in the past 12 months show that they aren’t pushovers.

Sweden have played a few friendlies since their last competitive match, and they have continued their impressive ways. They have beaten Hungary 2-0 and Slovakia 6-0 either side of a defeat to Ivory Coast.

With Sweden’s new found attacking ability shining through at the moment I’m expecting this to be a tough match for Belarus. The hosts have beaten Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia by comfortable margins in recent months, whilst Belarus lost 4-1 in the Netherlands and lost to Bulgaria away from home too. This makes odds of 1.950 for a Sweden -1.0 Asian Handicap win look good value for money, so I’m backing that alongside a 3-0 correct score predictions at 9/1.