Russia v Sweden Betting Tips – UEFA Nations League, 11th October 7.45pm
Both have faced Turkey in the group so far with very different outcomes. Russia took a very good away win out in Turkey to open their account in the Nations League strongly and will be looking to press home the advantage in the group on home soil in midweek. Sweden suffered a defeat against Turkey so have some work to do to catch up. Read our predictions for Russia v Sweden.
Russia v Sweden Betting Odds*
Russia 19/20
Draw 21/10
Sweden 10/3
* (Betting Odds were taken from bet365 on October 8th, 2018 at 3:54 p.m.)
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Russia News and Form
The World Cup sprung a surprise in that host nation Russia did so well there. They sprang another bit of a surprise in taking a 2-1 win Turkey in their opening fixture in the Nation’s League. Turkey aren’t a side in great form, but still, that was a tricky road game for the Russians. Denis Cheryshev and Artem Dzyuba were on the scoresheet for them against Turkey. Russia made several changes then for a friendly against the Czech Republic which they won 5-1 in. So in their last eight games, Russia have lost just the one fixture now in a good stretch of form (W4 D3).
We are going to look over 2.5 goals for this fixture, whereas we usually take a conservative approach in Russia games. But over 2.5 goals looks value at 5/4* (Betting Odds were taken from October 8th, 2018 at 3:54 p.m.) as Sweden are capable of both offensive output as well as falling apart at the back. Russia themselves are not a great defensive side either to be fair. The last time these two met, Russia took a win which was in Euro 2016 qualification. That followed a draw between them leaving the Russians undefeated in four against Sweden (W2 D2).
Sweden News and Form
The Swedes need to find a response to a 2-3 home defeat against Turkey in their opening fixture in the group. That was a really strange result for Sweden, who had started as the favourite to get the win against the out-of-sorts Turks. Prior to that in the international break, they had lost a friendly game against Austria, so overall they are on a three-match losing streak. They have just a W2 L4 record in their last six played. This is a tough game on the road for them.
The pressure is on. The Swedes can be hit and miss in terms of scoring consistency. They had failed to score in two before getting on the scoresheet against Turkey in that defeat. Those goals put Sweden 2-0 up at home early in the second half against Turkey. But they worryingly collapsed right at the end of the game. That won’t have helped their confidence. Regardless of the outcome, we are going to look at both teams to score at even money* (Betting Odds were taken from October 8th, 2018 at 3:54 p.m.).
Russia v Sweden Predictions
Russia to win: We have to back Russia to get the win in this one just because they look the slightly more stable of the two. Sweden can get a bit unpredictable, so we are sticking with a home win but both teams to score.
