Sports Mole previews Monday’s Swedish Allsvenskan clash between Hammarby and IFK Goteborg, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Aiming to move closer to the European places in the Swedish Allsvenskan table, fifth-placed Hammarby host relegation-battling IFK Goteborg at the Tele2 Arena on Monday.
The hosts are six points adrift of third-placed Djurgardens IF, while the visitors will be looking to increase their current one-point lead over the drop zone.
Match preview
An inconsistent start to the campaign from Hammarby saw them win four of their opening nine league matches and lose the remaining five, but three successive victories before the five-week break saw them climb from ninth on matchday nine to fourth on matchday 12.
Kim Hellberg‘s men were unable to come out victorious in either of their friendly matches during the break, losing 3-1 to IF Brommapojkarna and drawing 2-2 with IFK Varnamo, and they carried that form into their return to the Allsvenskan as they drew 0-0 with GAIS.
Hammarby now sit fifth in the league heading into this one and trailing Djurgarden, who sit in the UEFA Europa Conference League qualification spot in third, by six points.
The hosts have played just 13 fixtures in the Allsvenskan and could move into fourth with a victory here, while also being able to move within one point of second place if they win both games in hand over Mjallby AIF.
Hellberg’s team have been at their best when playing at the Tele2 Arena this campaign, amassing 15 of their 22 total points when playing at home thanks to five wins in six games.
Their opponents Goteborg, look destined for yet another season of fighting to extend their stay in the top flight after they narrowly avoided the bottom three by a point last year.
Stefan Billborn‘s men are 13th in the league coming into this game and again find themselves just a point above 14th-placed Kalmar FF after managing only 14 points from the opening 13 games.
A 2-0 loss to Varnamo in the last outing has extended their winless run away from home to five matches across all competitions, including a 2-0 loss to Lillestrom in a friendly.
Not since a 1-0 win in 2015 have Gorteborg won at the Tele2 Arena in 90 minutes in a competitive match, with the only victory in that time coming in a 3-1 win in extra-time of the Svenska Cupen.
Hammarby Swedish Allsvenskan form:
IFK Goteborg Swedish Allsvenskan form:
Team News
The hosts are set to remain without the services of both Frederik Winther, who is out for the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in April, and Mads Fenger, who is expected to return in the coming weeks.
Nahir Besara has been in fine form for his club this campaign, providing five assists and scoring five goals in his 13 league games, and is likely to start once again here.
As for the visitors, they are currently going through a slight injury crisis with up to five players set to be unavailable for this one.
Abundance Salaou, Hussein Carneil, Mattias Johansson, Pontus Dahlberg and Suleiman Abdullahi are all out with various injuries.
Hammarby possible starting lineup:
Dovin; Skoglund, Eriksson, Vagic, Pinas; Hammar, Tekie; Schellhas, Besara, Toure; Gul
IFK Goteborg possible starting lineup:
Bishesari; Santos, Svensson, Hausner, Wendt; Ohlsson, Thordarson; Mucolli, Pettersson, Abraham; Norlin
We say: Hammarby 2-0 IFK Goteborg
Hammarby’s winning streak in the league may have been brought to an end in their 0-0 draw last time out, but they come into this one as strong favourites against a Goteborg side who have struggled this campaign, and for this reason, we believe the hosts will win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.