Sweden welcome Moldova to Friends Arena for an international friendly on Thursday. The Swedes will consider this a chance to build some confidence ahead of a huge Euro 2024 qualifying clash with Belgium and will be keen to flex their superiority over their visitors.
The Euro 2024 qualifiers have not been particularly smooth for Sweden as they are currently third on the standings, seven points behind Belgium and Austria. Janne Andersson’s men need a spark for their campaign and with the Belgians next up, they will be keen to build some confidence against Moldova.
The problem for Sweden is a bit of inconsistency in recent times having lost two of their last three matches and were beaten 3-1 by Austria in their last qualifying fixture. However, stretching things a bit further back, the Swedes have won seven of their last 10 matches across all competitions.
Despite their erratic showings lately, when Sweden are on form, they tend to blow teams away. Among their recent results are a 5-0 victories over Estonia and Azerbaijan in the qualifiers while they have also picked up a 4-1 win over New Zealand in a friendly back in June.
Moldova are also using Thursday’s clash as a warm-up for the Euro qualifiers, where they have surprisingly looked solid so far. They have lost just once in five qualifying fixtures and are currently above Poland on the standings and sitting two points off the pace.
The issue with Moldova is that they only just picked up their form recently having claimed just two wins in their last seven matches across all competitions. Sergiu Clescenco’s men travel to Friends Arena off the back of a 1-0 victory over Faroe Islands in a qualifying fixture back in September.
While Moldova did claim an impressive 3-2 victory in the qualifiers, their positive results have mostly come against minnows like Faroe Islands. They have lost 2-0 to Group E leaders Albania in the qualifiers while a 5-0 home defeat to Romania is also among their recent results.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Sweden as overwhelming favourites with a home win priced at 1/10 by Paddy Power. An unlikely victory for Moldova is valued at 18/1 by Unibet while bet365 is offering odds of 13/2 for a draw.
Head to head
Sweden have won all eight previous meetings with Moldova and claimed a 1-0 victory in the most recent clash in a Friendly back in 2020.
Players to watch
Victor Gyokeres comes into the international break in good form having scored six goals in his seven Primeira Liga appearances for Sporting CP. The striker was also on target in the 5-0 wins over Estonia and Azerbaijan and is priced at 5/6 by bet365 to find the net on Thursday.
At the other end of the pitch, Sweden have the quality to keep things tight with the likes of Victor Lindelof and Emil Holm. Both men can help the Swedes keep a clean sheet at 1/2 with BoyleSports.
Anything else catch the eye?
Sweden have a knack for heavy wins and having claimed a couple of 5-0 victories in recent times, a -2 handicap could be considered at 13/10 with Paddy Power. With a dominant victory expected, they could also be backed to win both halves at 23/20 with BoyleSports
The Swedes have plenty of attacking quality and could be backed to score in both halves at 8/11 by bet365.
This Euro 2024 match between Sweden and Moldova will be played on Oct 12, 2023 and kick off at 18:00. Check below for our tipsters best Sweden vs Moldova prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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