Malmö FF – IFK Göteborg, Swedish Allsvenskan
2004-04-24 14.00 CET
Pick: Malmö FF
Stake: 3%
Odds: 1,62
Final reason for bet
·
Malmö
has started the new season in a promising way.
·
Malmö
is almost fully fit.
·
Malmö
has proved to be efficient in front of goal.
·
Malmö’s highly rated new signings has performed well.
·
Göteborg did not impress in their last game.
General comment about the game
Malmö FF is favourite to win
the title this year. They have a very strong squad, which was something they
also had last year. However, they only finished third last year due to inconsistency;
during periods they were outstanding together with champions Djurgården and they seemed to be unstoppable winning match
after match, including against Djurgården. But they
also had periods with less impressive results and that cost them to many unnecessary
points. To this year the squad looks even stronger with three very interesting
signings; central defender Patrik Andersson from Barcelona, one of last year’s most exciting
strikers in Allsvenskan; Igor Sypniewski
and one of the best players the last couple of years in Allsvenskan;
attacking midfielder Afonso Alves.
They have lost a couple of players; most important is former top striker Peter
Ijeh who now has joined Saturday’s opponent IFK Göteborg. Also last year’s third
choice striker Marcus Rosenberg has left and finally midfield contender Erik
Johansson. However, no one would argue that the squad looks much stronger
this year. Malmö plays with a 3-5-2 formation. The
defence has so far looked very strong and is commanded by former Swedish international
Patrik Andersson. He is
complemented by last year’s central defenders Daniel Majstorovic
and Olof Persson. We should
not forget rock giant Majstorovic who has been in
the shadow of Andersson so far this season but last
year it was him that was the defender everyone was talking about. The midfield
is very attacking minded, last year’s successful wing back duo Joseph Elanga and Jon Inge Höiland has moved a step forward and in central midfield they
have the Brazilian flair of Afonso together with
the creative and battling duo Tobias Grahn and
Hans Mattisson. Mattisson is however doubtful for
Saturday's game. Upfront they have last year’s top scorer Niklas
Skoog. The last two seasons he has been leading Allsvenskan’s most lethal striking force together with Ijeh and this year he will have Sypniewski
instead. It is hard to tell which one is the best but one thing is for sure;
Ijeh would not have scored as many goals without the support
from Skoog. Furthermore, Malmö
does not stand and fall with these players. They have many more players that
have a high standard for the Swedish league that for the moment is out of
the starting eleven but would easily go in and substitute if necessary such
as Yngvesson, Chanko, Jönsson, Olsson. Malmö has made a good and very promising start of the new
season managing two convincing 5-1 victories and also a goalless draw away
against fellow title contenders Hammarby. Their
best performance so far was in the home game against Örebro.
Malmö created a lot and showed good spirit and creativity
and won rightfully with 5-1. Örebro was never in
the game and the final result could have been even more embarrassing for the
visitors. In last game away against Elfsborg, Malmö
started a bit slow and were also 1-0 down after 20 minutes. However, they
showed great strength and after some good individual performances from Afonso
together with defensive mistakes from Elfsborg the
match turned around. When central defender Majstorovic
scored 1-3 from a fine header after 35 minutes the match was over and Malmö
could stride away to another easy victory.
Former Swedish giants IFK Göteborg has lost the
advantage over other Swedish clubs that they gained during the 80’s and 90’s
when they won the UEFA Cup twice and also went far season after season in the
European Cup/Champions League. Now, it is almost ten years since their last
Swedish title and they have been forced to start all over again by building
from youth. To this year the team looks better than for long and there are many
people that believe they will be competing just behind the supposed top teams.
In comparison to Malmö they lack the attacking
movement and also the flair that many of Malmö’s
players got. They have made two new interesting signings; former top striker Peter
Ijeh and also former Swedish international winger Niclas Alexandersson from
Everton. So far they have not impressed in the manner that Malmö’s
new boys have done, this is especially true with Ijeh
that so far looks frustrating on the pitch. Göteborg
does not have the players that can give him the support that he got during his
glory year’s in Malmö. Göteborg
played a goalless draw at home against Halmstad last
weekend. In the first half the visitors were the better team and created also
some good chances. In the second half Göteborg
battled their way back into the game but found it hard to create any real
danger. So far Göteborg has not conceived any goals
from the three matches they have played. That is good, but we must consider
that their opponents have not been the best. The central defence looks solid
but the wing backs looks shaky from time to time. Their players in midfield are
more known for their battling capacity than flair and creativeness. Upfront
they have two good experienced players; creative
This is Malmö’s second home
game for the season. A crowd of around 25.000 people is expected to Malmö Stadium on Saturday and we believe that the home team
will continue to amuse their fans with a new convincing victory. Malmö is of a higher calibre than Göteborg’s
previous opponents and will most certainly find holes in the visitors defence,
especially on the flanks. Since it is early on the season we keep the stake at
a medium level, 3%.
Recent
games for home team
|
2004-04-19 |
Elfsborg-Malmö FF |
1-5 |
|
2004-04-09 |
Malmö FF-Örebro |
5-1 |
|
2004-04-06 |
Hammarby-Malmö FF |
0-0 |
Recent games for away team
|
2004-04-19 |
IFK Göteborg-Halmstad |
0-0 |
|
2004-04-09 |
IFK Göteborg-Elfsborg |
3-0 |
|
2004-04-06 |
Kalmar FF-IFK Göteborg |
0-0 |
Home table
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Malmö FF |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5-1 |
3 |
Away table
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IFK Göteborg |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0-0 |
1 |
Links for this game
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Malmö FF: |
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IFK Göteborg: |
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Livescore: |
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League: |
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// SportsObserver 040423
