Sweden's national football team will be without captain Victor Lindelöf for Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Switzerland in Geneva. Striker Alexander Isak will start on the bench and won't play full matches. Coach Graham Potter stresses focusing on the available squad despite multiple absences.
The match in Geneva on November 15 marks Graham Potter's first game as Sweden's coach after Jon Dahl Tomasson. Sweden, with one point in qualifying but secured for playoffs thanks to Germany's results, faces group leader Switzerland at 20:45.
Captain Victor Lindelöf misses the game due to a niggle, not an injury, with Isak Hien taking the armband. "He is not injured, he has a niggle. We decided it is better for him not to play tomorrow, but hopefully he can play on Tuesday against Slovenia," Potter said at the press conference.
Alexander Isak will not start and won't play 90 minutes in both qualifiers. "We must be smart and use him in a good way," Potter explained. The team has faced several setbacks: Viktor Gyökeres and Dejan Kulusevski were not selected due to injuries, Taha Ali withdrew, and Hugo Larsson and Lucas Bergvall have gone home.
"It is always a disappointment to lose players, but we must focus on what we can do now," Potter said. Left-back Daniel Svensson, named by Potter as first free-kick taker, was surprised: "I didn't even know that myself to be honest. I've taken some free kicks this week."
From the Swiss side, striker Breel Embolo respects Sweden: "Isak is Isak and Elanga is Elanga. Sweden always comes with enormous respect." Coach Murat Yakin warns of Potter: "It is a coach with quality who has trained big clubs. It will be dangerous for us." Switzerland won their last meeting 2-0 in Sweden a month ago.
Embolo laughed at a question about captain Granit Xhaka's alleged surprise at Sweden's poor qualifying: "Did he say that in Swedish? Sweden were not that bad." Yakin called Xhaka's statement unfortunate.