Brondby have a chance to win their opening two games in the Danish Superliga for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign when they welcome Odense to Brondby Stadion on Sunday.
Despite conceding an early goal on matchday one, the 11-time champions of Denmark came back to defeat Silkeborg 2-1, while De Stribede gave up an equaliser in stoppage time and had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Randers.
Match preview
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Jesper Sorensen began his first full season as Brondby boss on a positive note, as this club did something they had not managed to do since November 2021, win a league fixture despite conceding the opening goal.
Beginning a domestic campaign with a 2-0 record has only happened to Drengene fra Vestegnen twice since 2009-10, and the last time they did it, the club from Brondbyvester went on to win the Superliga title (2020-21).
In 2022-23, they only suffered three regular-season defeats at Brondby Stadion, though they struggled in the league Championship round at home, losing on three occasions, conceding a combined 10 times in those losses.
They are unbeaten in their last 10 matches in all competitions versus Odense, claiming four successive victories against them at home.
While they have only captured the Danish Superliga crown once over the past 10 seasons, Brondby have never missed the Championship round since the format was first introduced in 2016-17.
Last season, they did not suffer a single defeat in the regular-season or Championship round when leading at the half, but their total of 44 points was the fewest for them since 2020-21 when the league reduced the domestic campaign from a maximum of 36 games to 32.
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For a second successive season, Odense failed to win their opening domestic encounter, though that single point already matches their entire total after five regular season fixtures in 2022-23.
The 2023 portion of the last Danish Superliga season was anything but memorable for Odense, who only captured one of their final five regular season fixtures and were outscored 13-3 over that stretch.
Andreas Alm saw his side lose their final three away fixtures in the 2022-23 regular season, failing to score in the last two games before the relegation round, with 13 of their 28 points accumulated in the opening stage occurring on the road.
Not since 2018-19 have they qualified for the Championship round, and their poor form at the start and end of the previous regular season campaign was a big reason why, as they failed to win their opening five matches last year and only captured one of their last seven regular season affairs.
Defensively, this group had a miserable 2022-23 domestic campaign, conceding a league-high 38 goals in the regular season, though they managed to collect three clean sheets in the relegation round.
Odense have conceded multiple goals in each of their previous five visits to Brondby Stadion and have not won there in over eight years (2-1 win in July 2015).
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Team News
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Kevin Mensah missed the opening match for Brondby through suspension, while newcomers Justin Che and Jacob Rasmussen were on the bench after recently signing during the transfer window.
Nicolai Vallys, who led the Superliga in assists last season (seven), levelled their opening league fixture 11 minutes after going behind, with Hakon Evjen putting home the winner a few minutes beyond the hour mark.
In their previous home fixture against Odense in this competition, Josip Radosevic and Oscar Schwartau netted in a 2-0 victory as Thomas Mikkelsen made five stops for the clean sheet.
Leeroy Owusu and Sven Kohler were two of the new faces in the starting 11 for Odense on matchday one, having each recently joined the club during the summer transfer window, while Sauli Vaisanen made his regular season debut for them off the bench, replacing Aske Adelgaard for the final four minutes plus stoppage time.
A pair of new additions found the mark in their opening league fixture, with Ramin Al Hajj scoring from the penalty spot before Mohamed Buya Turay gave them the lead, only for Hugo Andersson to notch an equaliser for Randers in the 95th minute.
Bashkim Kadrii was their top goalscorer in 2022-23, finding the back of the net eight times, and he has five goals in his career versus Brondby, while Emmanuel Sabbi had their only strike when they played them to a 1-1 draw at home last season.
Brondby possible starting lineup:
Mikkelsen; Alves, Lauritsen, Heggheim; Wass, Greve, Radosevic, Riveros; Vallys, Salech, Kvistgaarden
Odense possible starting lineup:
Hansen; Owusu, Paulsen, Vaisanen, Adelgaard; Manneh, Kohler; Tongya, Al Hajj, Deedson; Buya Turay
We say: Brondby 2-1 Odense
Based on their opening match, it appears as though Odense have not resolved the defensive issues we saw them suffer through during the previous regular season.
Brondby have had problems defensively as well, but we expect their attacking depth will be enough to earn them another victory on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
