Preview: Romania vs Sweden - prediction, team news, lineups

Romania welcome Sweden to the Arena Nationala on Monday evening, knowing that another defeat would end their hopes of finishing top of Nations League League B Group 4 and securing automatic promotion to the first tier.

The visitors, meanwhile, are looking to strengthen their position at the summit after taking seven points from their opening three matches of the campaign.

Match preview

Sweden are on course for back-to-back promotions in the Nations League, having ascended to League B at the beginning of this campaign and are currently sitting two points clear at the top of Group B4 after three matches.

After opening their campaign with a 2-1 win in the first-leg meeting over Romania, Graham Potter's side followed that up with a 3-1 success against Poland before producing another encouraging display on their first away trip of the campaign in Zenica on Friday evening.

The Scandinavians appeared on course for a third successive victory when Viktor Gyokeres put them ahead against Bosnia-Herzegovina shortly after the hour mark, but they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw after Kerim Alajbegovic's late equaliser.

That result further highlighted the team's strengths and vulnerabilities in attack and defence respectively, as Sweden are yet to keep a clean sheet in 13 games since Potter took charge in October last year, though they have only failed to score once in that spell, in a 3-0 defeat to France in the World Cup round of 32.

The former Chelsea boss has overseen five victories in those 13 outings (D4, L4) and now has an opportunity to improve his win percentage against a nation the Blue and Yellow have beaten in four of the last five meetings (L1), netting multiple goals in each those triumphs.

Romania, by contrast, have seen their campaign head in the opposite direction, with three defeats leaving Gheorghe Hagi's side bottom of the section without a point and looking even more exposed after every fixture.

While September's first-leg loss to Sweden in Solna appeared spirited to a certain extent, the Tricolours' 4-2 setback at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina looked more disappointing, but matters took a much worse turn on Friday when they were thrashed 6-0 by Poland in Warsaw.

Radu Dragusin's 22nd-minute dismissal proved costly, as Romania conceded from the spot as a result of the defender's last-man foul, with Robert Lewandowski converting before the veteran completed his hat-trick in a second-half rout that featured five goals.

The result marked the Tricolours' heaviest defeat since a 7-1 loss to Switzerland in the European qualifiers in 1967, while also leaving Romania with just one victory in seven matches in 2026.

At risk of suffering their first relegation from the Nations League second tier since the competition's inception, Monday's hosts can at least draw encouragement from the fact that they have won four of their last five home games and will view their latest loss in Bucharest as just a blip in front of their crowd.

Romania Nations League form:

Romania form (all competitions):

Sweden Nations League form:

Sweden form (all competitions):

Team News

Sweden are expected to remain without Alexander Isak after the Liverpool forward left the squad with a minor injury sustained in the opening meeting with Romania, while Emil Holm is also unavailable after suffering a thigh problem in that match.

Carl Starfelt was forced off with a thigh injury last time out and will miss Monday's game, with Eric Smith, who replaced him in that match, and new call-up Victor Eriksson both in contention to start at the heart of the defence.

Gyokeres should lead the line again after extending his record-breaking Nations League scoring run against Bosnia, making him the first player to score in six straight matches in the competition.

Sweden were also hit by illness ahead of the Bosnia fixture, with Yasin Ayari, Benjamin Nygren, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Elliot Stroud and Patrik Walemark among those who missed that match, although Potter has added replacements to his squad.

Meanwhile, Romania will be without Dragusin, who is expected to serve a suspension following his dismissal last time out, while Virgil Ghița will also sit this one out as he serves a one-match ban for an accumulation of bookings.

With both centre-backs out of the picture for Monday's game, manager Hagi will be left to shuffle his backline, with Andrei Coubis an option to step in after coming in last time out, while the experienced Andrei Burca is also an option, as are Bogdan Racovitan and Matei Ilie.

In fact, the 61-year-old manager made several changes against Poland, with Ionut Radu likely to return in goal after Otto Hindrich conceded six times in Warsaw.

Romania possible starting lineup:

Radu; Ratiu, Coubis, Burca, Eissat; Olaru, M Marin, Baluta, Stanciu; Man, Birligea

Sweden possible starting lineup:

Johansson; Gudmundsson, Lindelof, E Smith, Dahl; Bernhardsson, Larsson, Karlstrom, Nanasi; Gyokeres, Zeneli

We say: Romania 1-2 Sweden

Sweden hold the advantage in terms of momentum and recent head-to-head meetings, so an away victory looks feasible, especially against a depleted Romanian side that will be looking to shore up absences in the backline.

The hosts are expected to find the net as well, considering Sweden's lack of defensive solidity under Potter, so there should be goals at both ends in this one.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.