Berbatov facing old friend

'Tough battle
Berbatov, who scored five goals in six qualifying matches, said: "Teddy's a very good defender and a true professional. He didn't play regularly at Leverkusen, but I know him well and he knows me. Obviously, I expect a tough battle." Right-back Lucic will not be Berbatov's direct marker and instead he will be up against the central defensive pairing of Olof Mellberg and Andreas Jakobsson.

High expectations
The expectations on the Leverkusen man to score are high but he denied feeling the pressure. "I know everyone is expecting me to bang in the goals, but I don't care who scores as long as the team is winning," he said. "It doesn't matter who partners me in attack either. We have some great forwards and whoever plays alongside me, we will not let the fans down."

Petrov doubt
It remains to be seen whether another German-based player, Martin Petrov - who would face Lucic out on Bulgaria's left - will be fit to play. Although the VfL Wolfsburg midfield player trained on Saturday and Sunday, he is still suffering from a muscle strain in his left leg and will undergo a strict physical examination tomorrow.

Natural replacement
If he misses out, Bulgaria have a natural replacement in Zdravko Lazarov, who has been in excellent form recently for Turkish side Gaziantepspor and scored his first international goal in the April friendly against Cameroon. However, Markov is hoping it will not come to that.

Favoured formation
"I will wait to the last possible moment to see whether I will be able to field Petrov," he said. The Bulgaria coach has no other injury worries and will again use his favoured 4-4-1-1 formation.

Poor record
Bulgaria have a poor record against the Swedes. Since they won the teams' first two meetings, they have drawn two and lost seven in a run stretching back to 1967. However, Markov is confident his players can bring the sequence to an end. "I think we know everything about Sweden: their strengths and weaknesses," the coach said.

Confidence
Midfield player Marian Hristov echoed his coach's confidence, saying: "Six years ago when we lost 1-0 against Sweden in Burgas in a EURO 2000™ qualifier, we were going through a change of generations. Now, we're a completely different side."