Bosnia v Sweden preview: Potter’s leaders hit by illness and injury before Zenica top-of-table clash
Sweden, top of Nations League B Group D, travel to second-placed Bosnia without Isak and five players struck by illness.
Sweden arrive in Zenica top of Nations League B Group D with a perfect record, but Graham Potter’s squad has been torn apart by injury and a virus just as unbeaten Bosnia and Herzegovina wait.
Main image: DSN graphic. Photo: jamesboyes / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
First against second at Bilino Polje
Bosnia and Herzegovina host Sweden at Bilino Polje in Zenica on Friday 2 October, kick-off 19:45 BST. Ukrainian referee Oleksiy Derevinskiy is in charge.
Sweden have six points from two games after beating Romania 2-1 and Poland 3-1. Bosnia sit two points behind after a goalless draw in Poland and a wild 4-2 win in Romania, where they were three goals up inside 40 minutes. In League B Group B tonight, Ukraine and Northern Ireland meet level on points at the top.
Sweden hit by a sickness wave
According to Reuters, five players have been laid low by illness and did not travel to Bosnia: Yasin Ayari, Benjamin Nygren, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Elliot Stroud and Patrik Walemark. Alexander Isak is also out with a minor injury.
That hurts. Isak scored against Romania, while Nygren and Ayari were both on target in the win over Poland. Goal reports that Emil Holm and Hjalmar Ekdal are also missing, taking the number of withdrawals across the camp to eleven once pre-camp absentees such as Mattias Svanberg are counted.
Team doctor Jonas Werner said the staff were doing what they could to stop the infection spreading and were monitoring the players who had fallen ill. Potter’s message was simple: focus on the players who are available.
Gyökeres carries the load
With Isak out, the goals are likely to fall to Viktor Gyökeres, who has scored in both games so far. Gyökeres recently spoke out about his playing time at Arsenal, and he arrives in good international form.
It has been a lively start to this Nations League campaign, with Portugal winning 4-2 in Denmark last night. Swedish talent is in demand at club level too, as our sister site DGBN reported when Manchester United signed Swedish winger Jusu Bah. As for Bosnia, they have spread their goals around: Armin Gigović, Tarik Muharemović, Haris Tabaković and Ermin Mahmić all scored in Romania.
Key numbers
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | Sweden | |
|---|---|---|
| Group position | 2nd | 1st |
| Played | 2 | 2 |
| Won / drawn / lost | 1 / 1 / 0 | 2 / 0 / 0 |
| Goals for / against | 4 / 2 | 5 / 2 |
| Points | 4 | 6 |
| Nations League results | Poland 0-0 Bosnia; Romania 2-4 Bosnia | Sweden 2-1 Romania; Sweden 3-1 Poland |
| Top scorer this campaign | Four different scorers | Gyökeres (2) |
What’s at stake
A Sweden win would put them five points clear of Bosnia with one game of the window left. Bosnia would go top with a victory. Poland and Romania, on one point and none respectively, meet in Warsaw at the same time.
Sweden finish this international window against Romania on 5 October, and could call on reserve players for that game.
