Trelleborgs FF - Malmö FF, Swedish Allsvenskan
2004-05-03 19.00 CET
Pick: Malmö FF
Stake: 3%
Odds: 1,80
General comment about the game
Tonight Malmö FF will travel south to face Trelleborg in a derby match in Swedish Allsvenskan. Malmö has big expectations hanging over their shoulders this season. So far they have managed this very well with three wins and one draw. After two very impressive victories against Örebro and Elfsborg with 5-1 we suggested a bet when they faced Göteborg at home. It was successful since Malmö won by a single goal from midfielder Tobias Grahn. The game was tight and it was more fight than flair. Malmö played not as good as in the previous matches and a draw would not have been undeserved for Göteborg. However, it is matches like this that a title favourite must win; we can not expect them to dominate and win easily every time. Instead it shows a determination and eager that they want to finish at top this year which was something they lacked last year. Malmö is missing one important player tonight; influential midfielder Tobias Grahn who is suspended. However this opens the door for fellow central midfielder Hans Mattisson who is set to return after recovering from injury. Mattisson has been missing since the premiere. His replacement, Louay Chanko has played very good and was likely to keep Mattisson on the bench today. However, since Grahn is suspended Mattisson may start. Otherwise, young Jon Jönsson may get the opportunity.No other worries for in the Malmö squad.
Newcomer Trelleborg has started the new campaign quite good. Two points from their first three difficult matches followed by a win at home against Landskrona last weekend. Many have tipped Trelleborg to be in the relegation battle this year. This has worked as adrenaline to the players. In the premiere against last year’s champions Djurgården they earned a well deserved draw in the dying minutes. Djurgården’s coach said before the season that it would be six easy points against Trelleborg so it must have felt extremely good to grab a point even if some Trelleborg players were disappointed after the match since they thought they should have won it. Last time when Trelleborg was in Allsvenskan they played quite defensively and sometimes boring. This time they will try to change that by playing a more attacking minded football with emphasis on passing the ball. Their formation 4-3-3 is evidence for that. Their wing back pair must also be rated as one of the most attacking willing in Allsvenskan. At times during the early stages of the season this ambition has shown and has also resulted in some good play. However, at other times they have found it difficult to create which has resulted in boring play. After their good match against Djurgården they played away to Halmstad and AIK. Neither of these two matches was something for the spectators. Trelleborg did not create any real danger and in all they collected one point from these matches but failed to score. Last weekend they won against Landskrona. After a boring start Trelleborg took over the game and was 2-0 up until the end before Landskrona scored a consolation goal. Trelleborg has no new injury or suspension worries tonight. After four matches played we think that it is their defensive line that has impressed most. Upfront they have experienced Mats Lillienberg, last year’s player of the year Kristian Haynes and new signing Ivica Skiljo. However, all of these has more to proof. Tonight Trelleborg will have central midfielder Johan Laursen suspended. This means that new signing Justice Christopher will most certainly be given the opportunity to start for the first time in front of his new home crowd. Trelleborg has no new injury worries tonight.
We believe that Malmö will continue to win tonight. They were warned not to take anything for granted in their last game against Göteborg so we expect full concentration on three more points. Malmö is a better team with a stronger squad than Trelleborg, they have more creative and experienced players that will give the so far stable Trelleborg back four a hard days work. Malmö is almost fully fit and a win would mean continuing at the top of the table. Since Trelleborg has home advantage and has played quite good so far this season we keep the stake on a medium level, 3%.
Recent games for home team
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2004-04-25 |
Trelleborg-Landskrona |
2-1 |
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2004-04-18 |
AIK-Trelleborg |
0-0 |
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2004-04-09 |
Halmstad-Trelleborg |
1-0 |
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2004-04-05 |
Trelleborg-Djurgården |
2-2 |
Recent games for away team
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2004-04-24 |
Malmö-IFK Göteborg |
1-0 |
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2004-04-19 |
Elfsborg-Malmö |
1-5 |
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2004-04-09 |
Malmö-Örebro |
5-1 |
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2004-04-06 |
Hammarby-Malmö |
0-0 |
Home table
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Trelleborgs FF |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4-3 |
4 |
Away table
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Malmö FF |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
5-1 |
4 |
Links for this game
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Malmö FF: |
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// SportsObserver 040503
