GIF Sundsvall - Malmö FF, Swedish Allsvenskan
2004-08-14 16.00 CET
Pick: Malmö (Asian hcp -0,25)
Stake: 3%
Odds: 1,86
Final reasons
Malmö FF is in a winning stroll and has also recently climbed up to the first place in the league. With their player material this is the place they should be at. On Saturday they face an injury plagued Sundsvall team and to be honest this should be three easy points for Malmö. Even if they have two important defenders missing it is not so worrying since they have played good defensively before without that pair. And also, they will not win this match because of their defensive skills; it is much more due to their attacking players and their ability to score as they have done recently. If they do this Sundsvall will have nothing to put against. However, Malmö has not won against Sundsvall for six straight games so we go for an Asian handicap giving us half the stake back if the match ends with a draw. 3% stake is suggested.
General comment about the game
On Saturday the Swedish Allsvenskan continues and our attention is drawn to the game between GIF Sundsvall and Malmö FF. Big favourites Malmö FF has finally reached the top of the league. Five wins and one draw is their impressive results after the Euro 2004 break. Malmö’s defence is the best in the league and has so been for the whole season with only eight goals in the back from 15 matches. Their problems in the beginning of the season were in creating and scoring goals. They had some matches were everything worked and they scored a lot but often it was the reverse. However, now these problems seem to be over. Last years outstanding top scorer, Niklas Skoog, has finally hit the form by producing four goals in two matches. Also their Brazilian ace, attacking midfielder Afonso Alves has played much better and more consistent than in the beginning since he got a free role just behind Skoog. Malmö has also been forced to change their line up from 3/5/2 to the more traditional 4/4/2 much due to injuries among defenders, most important skipper Patrik Andersson. However, this has not been negative if you look at the results lately. Malmö has made a very interesting new signing in former Swedish international Daniel Andersson. He has been playing in Serie A the last couple of seasons and has now returned to Allsvenskan and Malmö FF even if he is just 26 years old. Many believe him to be one of the most dominating midfielders in the league. In their last game they beat local rivals Trelleborg with 4-2. The win was fair since Malmö were he better team, had most of the ball and created most chances. However, Malmö almost gave away two points since they let Trelleorg equalise ten minutes before fulltime but a very fine header from substitute Jon Jönsson and a brilliant goal from Skoog in the last minutes sealed all points. Malmö’s coach Tom Prahl has two central defenders unavailable for this match; Olof Persson is suspended and Patrik Andersson is still struggling with his injury. Both are very good players but Malmö has shown previously this season that they can coupe very good without them. No other important player is missing.
GIF Sundsvall is currently in eighth place in the league. They are a team that often found themselves in the relegation battle and also often manage to stay put in the highest division. Normally this is due to the fact that they are a very competent team when playing at home; so far they have the home record of 3/4/1. During this season they have had a period in May when they collected most of their points. Since the Euro 2004 break they have the less impressive record of 1/2/2. Both defeats came in their most recent matches. In last game they played at home against newcomers Kalmar FF and lost with 0-1. On Saturday Sundsvall will try to change there negative trend with two straight defeats when they face the table toppers but question marks over several players will not make this easier; definitely out is central defender Johan Andersson who is suspended, defender Fredric Lundqvist who limped off in last game and also long term absentee Öyvind Svenning. Furthermore they have three more players that is rated very doubtful; midfielder Hasse Bergh, striker Andreas Hermansson and central defender Patrik Eriksson-Ohlsson who has been absent since May.
Recent games for home team
|
2004-08-09 |
Sundsvall-Kalmar |
0-1 |
|
2004-08-02 |
Elfsborg-Sundsvall |
3-1 |
|
2004-07-25 |
Sundsvall-Trelleborg |
1-0 |
|
2004-07-18 |
Örebro-Sundsvall |
3-3 |
|
2004-07-17 |
Malmö-Sundsvall |
0-0 |
Recent games for away team
|
2004-08-09 |
Malmö-Trelleborg |
4-2 |
|
2004-08-01 |
AIK-Malmö |
0-2 |
|
2004-07-21 |
Malmö-Halmstad |
2-1 |
|
2004-07-14 |
Djurgården-Malmö |
0-2 |
|
2004-07-07 |
Malmö-Sundsvall |
0-0 |
Home table
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Sundsvall |
8 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
8-5 |
13 |
Away table
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Malmö |
7 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
13-4 |
14 |
Links for this game
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// SportsObserver 040814
