Slovenia vs Sweden

Stadion Stožice is the venue as Slovenia and Sweden go head-to-head in their UEFA Nations League Group B4 curtain-raiser.

Since a 2-1 home defeat to Russia in October 2021, Slovenia have gone unbeaten in their last four internationals. Yet, three of those games ended level (W1), including a brace of low-scoring draws with Croatia and Qatar in March. However, after earning promotion to League B in 2020/21, the Slovenians experienced an abysmal 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign, finishing fourth in their respective group. Sweden’s visit to Ljubljana could be another tricky affair for Matjaz Kek’s men, who are winless in their two previous H2Hs (D1, L1), drawing a blank in each. On the bright side, Slovenia have only lost once in 12 home internationals since October 2019 (W8, D3). Much of the credit for their impressive home form has to go to a high-performing backline that kept eight clean sheets in those 12 matches.

In the meantime, Sweden head into proceedings with their mindset severely damaged following a failed attempt to qualify for the upcoming World Cup finals. Adding to this sentiment, the Swedes suffered relegation from League A in 2020/21, courtesy of an inferior goal difference to Croatia. It goes from bad to worse for the ‘Blagult,’ as they’ve lost all four competitive away matches since suffering an underwhelming Euro 2020 group stage exit. Goalless on their last three international travels, Janne Andersson’s men will hope to launch a comeback in the Balkans. That’s where they last experienced success, having smashed Kosovo 3-0 in a 2022 World Cup qualifier back in March 2021.