Avoiding a third defeat in a row will be the objective for Halmstads BK when they welcome IFK Goteborg to Orjans Vall on Sunday in round 13 of the 2023 Swedish Allsvenskan season.
On the other hand, the away side set out to pick up consecutive victories after securing a much-needed return to winning ways last time out.
Match preview
Halmstads wrapped up their mini friendly exhibition with a second straight loss, this time a 2-1 defeat against Trelleborg in Monday's encounter.
Magnus Haglund's men went into the interval with a narrow advantage courtesy of Mohammed Naeem's opener after which strikes from Liam Olausson and Filip Boman turned the game on its head.
With 19 points from 12 matches so far, HBK sit seventh in the Swedish Allsvenskan table, nine points behind in the race for the final European spot.
Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who are unbeaten in the last 15 editions of this fixtures across all competitions dating back to 2011.
Winless in their last four matches on home turf, Sunday's hosts will need to get going in front of their fans if they are to build upon what has been a relatively decent start to the season.
Goteborg claimed a narrow 1-0 victory against league leaders Malmo when the teams squared off in a warm-up fixture at Eleda Stadion on Sunday.
Gustaf Norlin broke the deadlock 26 minutes into the contest to put Jens Berthel Askou's men to the sword in what turned out to be a largely one-sided affair.
This came off the back of a 2-0 defeat against Sirius which saw the Kamraterna drop down to 14th in the standings, four points adrift of safety.
Having recently ended a barren run of seven matches on the road without a win, Sunday's visitors now go in search of consecutive away wins for the first time since February.
Team News
Hussein Carneil and Sebastian Ohlsson are both unavailable for Goteborg through injury, while Abundance Salaou is yet to recover from a damaged knee.
Emil Salomonsson has missed the last two games through a muscle injury, but the 34-year-old is drawing increasingly closer to a return to action.
Anders Trondsen was sent off in his last league outing for the visitors, making him ineligible to play any part in this weekend's encounter.
Viktor Granath has been directly involved in seven of Halmstads' 13 goals this term, and the Swedish forward is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Halmstads BK possible starting lineup:
Nilsson; Ofosu-Ayeh, Johansson, Baffo, Olsson; Boakye, Allansson, Svedberg, Karlsson; Granath, Ahlstrand
IFK Goteborg possible starting lineup:
Dahlberg; Wendt, Bangsbo, Svensson, Eriksson; Carlen, Trondsen; Carlstand, Hagen, Norlin; Berg
We say: Halmstads BK 1-1 IFK Goteborg
Goteborg have vastly enjoyed the better of this fixture of late but head into Sunday's game on a tough run of results. We expect a tight affair with the sides settling for a point apiece in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Adepoju Marvellous
