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Portugal national football team
Nations League | League A
Oct 14, 2020 at 7.45pm UK
 
Sweden national football team

Portugal
3 - 0
Sweden

Silva (21'), Jota (44', 72')
Jota (52'), Fernandes (85')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Ekdal (36'), Olsson (57'), Jansson (62'), Andersson (72'), Berg (79')

How Portugal could line up against Sweden

Sports Mole looks at how Portugal could line up for their UEFA Nations League showdown with Sweden on Wednesday evening.

Portugal's defence of their UEFA Nations League crown continues on Wednesday when they welcome an out-of-sorts Sweden side to the Estadio Jose Alvalade for the fourth round of fixtures in Group A3.

The reigning Nations League champions played out a 0-0 draw with World Cup holders France at the weekend, and Fernando Santos's side currently occupy top spot in the group with seven points to show from a possible nine thus far.

With Sweden travelling to Lisbon without a single point from their first three games in the 2020-21 tournament, Portugal will no doubt be confident of returning to winning ways as they look to fend off France in the race for finals qualification.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how Portugal could line up for their midweek showdown with Sweden.



Possible Portugal XI vs. Sweden

Out: Cristiano Ronaldo (coronavirus)

The Nations League holders must contend with a quick turnaround in fixtures, but Santos will not be taking this game lightly even though he has plenty of options for change for the meeting with the group's basement side.

The good news for the Portugal boss is that his team came out of their goalless stalemate with France unscathed, but the hosts will have to make do without their star man in Cristiano Ronaldo, who returned a positive coronavirus test earlier this week.

Rui Patricio is a shoo-in to start in goal and earn his 90th cap for the national team, with Anthony Lopes withdrawing after also testing positive for coronavirus, although all other players have returned negative tests prior to the meeting with Sweden.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers shot-stopper is likely to be protected by the centre-back pairing of Ruben Dias and Pepe once again, but Joao Cancelo could come in for Nelson Semedo on the right-hand side should Santos opt to freshen things up only three days after a challenging bout with France.

In the middle of the park, Danilo Pereira and Bruno Fernandes will look to keep their spots, and the midfield three could be completed by Joao Moutinho - who was named amongst the substitutes for Sunday's encounter with the world champions - which could see William Carvalho drop to the bench.

Up top, Ronaldo boasts an impressive seven goals in this fixture, but after testing positive for COVID-19, the Juventus man will miss out and Diogo Jota is the obvious option to deputise on the left-hand side.

Jota will likely form part of a front three with Bernardo Silva and Joao Felix, who both featured from the first whistle at the weekend, although Andre Silva also has every chance of spearheading the Portugal attack.

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France's Paul Pogba in action with Portugal's Danilo Pereira in the Nations League on October 11, 2020
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League A1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal642014
Q Croatia Croatia62228
3 Scotland flag Scotland62137
4 Poland Poland61144

League A2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France641113
Q Italy Italy641113
3 Belgium Belgium61144
4 Israel Israel61144

League A3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany642014
Q Netherlands Netherlands62319
3 Hungary Hungary61326
4 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina60242

League A4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain651016
Q Denmark Denmark62228
3 Serbia Serbia61326
4 Switzerland Switzerland60242

League B1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic632111
2 Ukraine Ukraine62228
3 Georgia Georgia62137
4 Albania national flag Albania62137

League B2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England650115
2 Greece Greece650115
3 Ireland Rep. Ireland62046
4 Finland Finland60060

League B3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Norway Norway641113
2 Austria Austria632111
3 Slovenia Slovenia62228
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan60151

League B4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Wales flag Wales633012
2 Turkey Turkey632111
3 Iceland Iceland62137
4 Montenegro Montenegro61053

League C1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Sweden Sweden651016
2 Slovakia Slovakia641113
3 Estonia Estonia61144
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan60151

League C2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania550015
2 Kosovo flag Kosovo540112
3 Cyprus Cyprus62046
4 Lithuania Lithuania60060

League C3

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland632111
2 Bulgaria Bulgaria62319
3 Belarus Belarus61417
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg60333

League C4

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Macedonia N. Macedonia651016
2 Armenia Armenia62137
3 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands61326
4 Latvia Latvia61144

League D1

TeamPWDLPTS
Q San Marino flag San Marino42117
2 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar41306
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein40222

League D2

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Republic of Moldova Moldova43019
2 Malta flag Malta42117
3 Andorra flag Andorra40131


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