Switzerland vs Iceland Predictions

The brand new UEFA Nations League kicks off in this early season international break, and it promises to bring some much needed excitement to the normal drudgery of the international schedule. You can read more about the UEFA Nations League and how it will work here.

Switzerland and Iceland, ranked 8th and 32nd respectively in the FIFA World Rankings, have been drawn in League A, Group 2 alongside Belgium for this tournament. This means that quite a lot could ride on this fixture if they’re to avoid relegation to League 2.

Both nations have selected the strongest squad available to them at first sight, with Switzerland boasting talents such as Xherdan Shaqiri, Breel Embolo, Denis Zakaria, and Ricardo Rodriguez and Iceland bringing along the talismanic duo of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson looking to add to their 42 combined international goals.

Switzerland will be feeling confident about their chances here though. Their last outing may have been a 1-0 defeat to Sweden in the World Cup, but their record on Swiss soil is remarkable over the last couple of years. They haven’t lost a home game since May 2016, winning nine of their ten home games since then and only failing to beat Northern Ireland.

The hosts may boast some excellent attacking talent, but it’s at the back that they really impress. Over these ten matches they have conceded just three goals, keeping eight clean sheets in a run that includes a 2-0 win over Euro 2016 champions Portugal.

Iceland may have risen through the ranks of the footballing world in recent years, but their form doesn’t exactly breed confidence at the moment. Like Switzerland, their last outing was a defeat in the World Cup. Unlike their opponents, though, that 2-1 loss to Croatia made it seven games without a win for them, five of which have ended in defeat.

Away from home Iceland have only lost four of their 13 games since Euro 2016 ended, but their only truly impressive results have been wins against Republic of Ireland and Turkey. The majority of their opposition can claim minnow status, and a 1-0 defeat to Finland just over a year ago shows that there are still leaks to be plugged.

Iceland have pulled off some huge shocks since their rise to prominence, but we’re not expecting this to be one of them. Switzerland are incredibly organised at the back under Vladimir Petkovic, and given Iceland’s rather limited attacking capacity, we don’t expect them to be able to break through there. Backing a Switzerland win looks the best bet, along with a 1-0 correct score predictions.