Sweden and Austria are both in a fierce battle for second place in Group F of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. The Swedes thrashed Estonia over the weekend to close the gap on their Austrian rivals to four points. Defeat would leave them with a tough hill to climb.
Preview (Sweden vs. Austria)
In third place in Group F after two losses in three games, Sweden began a vital doubleheader for European Championship qualifying on Saturday in Tallinn with just two points separating them from Estonia. The Blagult’s dreams of battling back for a spot in the top two. It would ensure straight entry to the finals next summer. Viktor Gyokeres, Dejan Kulusevski, and Alexander Isak all scored in the first half. Sweden’s post-Zlatan Ibrahimovic era strikers all contributed to a performance.
The Swedes also lost 5-0 to Azerbaijan back in March. Janne Andersson’s team still has a lot of work to do after losses to Belgium and Austria. The current state of affairs means that Sweden, who did not compete in Qatar 2022, will not be participating in Europe’s premier international competition for the first time since Euro 1996, as their most recent UEFA Nations campaign has dampened prospects of a second chance to advance via the playoffs. After an unsuccessful attempt to depart from the traditional Swedish 4-4-2, the former Halmstads coach has subsequently returned to type.
After seeing his team upset the bottom-dwellers in the group, he now leads Sweden into a crucial match on Tuesday, when a loss would effectively eliminate them from contention for a spot in the group’s top two teams. Das Team’s most recent competitive excursion came in June’s rematch victory over Sweden, where a late double from RB Leipzig midfielder Christoph Baumgartner at Ernst Happel Stadion maintained their qualification fate in their own hands.
Team News
Alexander Isak scored on Saturday to break his country’s goal drought of 11 games and 697 days. He will start up front against Austria with Viktor Gyokeres likely to be his linemate at Friends Arena. Dejan Kulusevski should therefore play on the right side of midfield. Emil Forsberg, the most seasoned player now playing for Sweden, starts on the other wing. Forsberg has 82 caps. In Augustinsson’s place, Martin Olsson is competing with Watford’s Ken Sema for selection in the back.
After a little experimenting in last week’s friendly match against Moldova, Austria will revert to their strongest available XI in Stockholm. Christoph Baumgartner, star striker Marko Arnautovic, and captain David Alaba are among those set to start for the visitors. They made substitute appearances on Thursday. However, with four goals in his past five international outings, Freiburg’s Michael Gregoritsch may anticipate keeping his starting position up front; clubmate Junior Adamu, who was his partner in June’s home victory over Sweden, was not called up by Ralf Rangnick due to a knee injury.
Sweden 1 – 1 Austria
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