Round 15 of the 2024 Swedish Allsvenskan season commences with a meeting between Sirius and Malmo at the Studenternas IP on Friday.
The hosts head into this one off the back of a routine triumph last time out, while the visitors saw their eight-game unbeaten streak come to an end.
Match preview
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Malmo were beaten for the first time since early May in a 2-1 defeat against Mjallby at the Strandvallen on Saturday afternoon.
Goals either side of half time from Elliot Stroud and Jacob Bergstrom left Henrik Rydstrom's men on the back foot before Tom Pettersson inadvertently put the ball past his own keeper to set up a frenetic finale.
With 35 points picked up from 15 matches so far, Di Himmelsblatt currently lead the way in the standings with a four-point advantage over Djurgardens IF, albeit having played one game more.
Fresh from a first away defeat in five outings, Friday's visitors will be looking to avoid consecutive losses on enemy territory for the first time in over a year.
Sirius picked up a first victory in three matches as they ran out emphatic 3-1 winners against GAIS in Saturday's meeting between the sides.
Christer Mattiasson's men got their noses in front just before the break thanks to Henrik Castegren but were pegged back five minutes into the second period by Axel Henriksson, after which Melker Heier and Yousef Salech decided the contest.
As a result, Di Blasvart have moved up to ninth place in the Swedish Allsvenskan table and are just two points shy of the top half.
On the menu next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have lost just one of the previous 16 editions of this fixture, winning 13 of the other 15 clashes.
However, Friday's hosts will be confident of securing a positive result nonetheless having gone unbeaten in each of their last five matches on home turf.
Team News
Sirius' Tobias Carlsson has not featured for the last three-and-a-half months due to a knee injury, which will keep him out of Friday's clash as well.
Henrik Castegren made an instant impact on his return from suspension with a goal last time out and is expected to retain his place in the lineup.
Stefano Vecchia remains sidelined for Malmo through a long-term muscle problem, while Sergio Pena prepares to sit out a third straight game with a damaged ankle.
The away side will also be without the services of Oscar Lewicki and Anton Tinnerholm, although the latter is closing in on making his comeback.
Sirius possible starting lineup:
Tannander; Castegren, Nwadike, Jeng, Widgren; Stensson, Walta; Milleskog, Lindberg, Heier; Salech
Malmo possible starting lineup:
Dahlin; Busanello, Moisander, Jansson, Larsen; Nanasi, Johnsen, Christiansen, Berg; Thelin, Botheim
We say: Sirius 1-2 Malmo
Malmo hit a bump in the road last time out and will be keen to get themselves back on track with all three points here. While we expect Sirius to put up a good fight, we are backing the visitors to emerge victorious.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
