Trai Hume admits it's a bonus that Viktor Gyokeres is missing from Sweden's squad for Tuesday's friendly in Stockholm, but insists the hosts have plenty of firepower to trouble Michael O'Neill's travelling group.
Sporting CP star Gyokeres is ranked one of the best strikers in world football right now and is on the radar of clubs including Manchester United.
The 26-year-old picked up a knock in training and will sit out Tuesday's friendly at the Strawberry Arena, but Swedish manager Jon Dahl Tomasson has plenty of options as he looks to bounce back from Saturday night's shock 1-0 defeat to Luxembourg.
Newcastle United star Alexander Isak and Nottingham Forest forward Anthony Elanga - who both started against Luxembourg - are expected to be at Dahl Tomasson's disposal once again, two players Hume knows well.
"At this moment in time if you're going on form Isak is the best striker in the Premier League. Obviously you have (Erling) Haaland there and over the past two or three seasons he's the best striker, but on form at the minute? I don't think there's any doubt he's the best striker in the Premier League," Hume said.
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"He's scoring week in, week out, he's in great form and he scored in the Carabao Cup final last week. He's proving that he's ready to take the step up to the top level, he's on fire."
Hume added: "I played against Elanga during pre-season. I was up against Hudson-Odoi but Elanga was on the other side. Based on what I saw he's one of the quickest players I've ever seen, like, really sharp, and he's doing well for Forest.
"So it's going to be tough to deal with, but it's our job to do it and we'll try our best on Tuesday night."
Sunderland defender Hume also came up against Gyokeres when the Swede was playing at Coventry. The striker went on to earn a move to Sporting in the summer of 2023.
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"He's one of the top strikers in the world, isn't he? He was scoring goals every week for Sporting when Bruno Amorim was the coach. He's scored a lot of goals in the Champions League so he's one of the best in the business," Hume said.
"He's done exceptionally well since he moved from Coventry in the Championship. He's gained a lot of interest and a lot of followers across all the top clubs in the world and they're probably trying to get his signature.
"He deserves every bit of that because he's a top striker, the same as Isak at Newcastle. There's a lot of interest in him from all the top clubs because he's a top striker.
"They do have that great attacking threat with (Anthony) Elanga as well. Even without Gyokeres and (Dejan) Kulusevski they have a really strong attacking presence on the pitch. It's going to be a good test not only for the back line but for us as a team.
"It's going to be a tough test for us because we're playing against top players, and that's what you want as a player. You want to challenge yourself against the best and they've proved they can play at the top level."
Hume insists Northern Ireland's young squad shouldn't be fazed by Tuesday's trip to Stockholm. He believes it is the perfect challenge as they look to progress their own careers.
"It's not daunting. I don't think it should be, it should be a challenge that everyone wants to step up to," the former Linfield man said.
"For young players especially with years ahead of them, you want to improve every year and you want to test yourself against the best.
"Some of the players playing on Tuesday night will be some of the best in form at the minute in the world. It's a challenge young players should relish and look forward to, playing some of the best players in Europe.
"That's how I look at it."
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