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Sweden will host New Zealand at the Friends Arena on Friday in a friendly clash between the two nations.
The home side have had a mixed start to their European Championship qualification campaign but have enough time to get back on track when the competition resumes later in the month.
They thrashed Azerbaijan 5-0 in their last game, with four different players getting on the scoresheet including Manchester United youngster Anthony Elanga.
Sweden will return to competitive action next week when they face Austria in another round of their Euro qualifiers and will be looking to gather momentum from Friday's outing.
New Zealand missed out on the World Cup last year after losing to Costa Rica in the qualifications playoffs, with manager Danny Hay exiting the role as a result. Technical Director Darren Bazeley has been named caretaker boss, leading the All Whites to a 2-1 win over China in their most recent outing.
The visitors' latest result marked their first win under Bazeley and they will take confidence from that when they face Blågult this weekend.
Sweden vs New Zealand Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- Friday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Sweden and New Zealand. It will also mark the hosts' first-ever clash against an Oceanian nation.
- The All Whites' last matchup against European opposition came back in November 2019 when they lost 1-0 to Lithuania in a friendly clash.
- The visitors have kept just one clean sheet in their last five games.
- Sweden have scored at least one goal in all but one of their last nine games across all competitions.
- Blågult were ranked 22nd in the latest FIFA rankings and now sit 78 places above their weekend opponents.
Sweden vs New Zealand Prediction
Sweden have won four of their last five games across all competitions after winning just two of their previous 10. They have won their last two home games and will fancy their chances ahead of Friday's clash.
New Zealand's latest result ended a six-game winless streak and they will look to build on that here. They have, however, struggled for results on foreign grounds of late and could see defeat against significantly stronger opposition this weekend.
Prediction: Sweden 2-0 New Zealand
Sweden vs New Zealand Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Sweden
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Six of the visitors' last seven matches have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just one of the hosts' last five matches)
