Sivasspor and Malmo go head to head in the second leg of their Europa League qualifying playoff-round clash at the Yeni 4 Eylul Stadyumu on Thursday.
The Turkish side will be looking to pick up their first win of the season and mount a memorable comeback following last week's first-leg defeat.
Match preview
© Reuters
Sivasspor failed to get up and running in the new campaign as they bottled their lead late in injury time before settling for a 1-1 draw with Alanyaspor when the sides met in the Turkish Super Lig last weekend.
Despite being in the ascendancy for most of the game and seeing over 65% of the ball possession, Francesco Farioli's men needed a 91st-minute strike from substitute Idrissa Doumbia to cancel out Max Gradel's first-half opener and force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Sivasspor suffered a huge blow in their quest for a place in the group stages of the Europa League as they fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Malmo in last week's playoffs first-leg clash.
In that encounter, Leke James struck on the half-hour mark to cancel out Moustafa Zeidan's 18th-minute opener, but Anders Christiansen and Niklas Moisander found the target to lead the Finnish outfit a comfortable win.
Riza Calimbay's side, who will be looking to mount a memorable comeback on Thursday, have failed to taste victory in their opening five games of the 2022-23 campaign, picking up two draws and losing three, including a 4-0 thrashing against Trabzonspor in the Turkish Super Cup final on July 30.
© Reuters
Malmo, on the other hand, were made to rue their wasteful display in front of goal as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Mjallby when the sides met in the Swedish Allsvenskan on Sunday.
In an action-packed contest at the Strandvallen Stadium, Viktor Gustafson struck two minutes before the hour mark to hand the visitors the lead against the run of play but Veljko Birmancevic restored parity five minutes later to force a share of the spoils.
Malmo now turn their attention to the Europa League qualifiers, where they have enjoyed an unbeaten campaign — claiming two wins and one draw from their three games — and are now 90 minutes away from securing European football.
Andreas Georgson's side head into Thursday's matchup unbeaten in each of their last four games in all competitions, claiming two wins and two draws since a 2-1 loss against Sirius in the Allsvenskan on August 7.
While they will look to maintain this solid run, they have struggled for results away from home, where they are currently on a four-game winless streak and have managed just one victory in their last seven outings since May.
- L
- W
- L
- D
- L
- L
- D
- W
- D
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Sivasspor will take to the pitch without the services of former New England Revolution defender Samba Camara, who has been out of action since May through a knee injury.
Calimbay will also be unable to call upon experienced midfielder Hakan Arslan after the 34-year-old picked up a calf muscle problem in the Turkish Super Cup clash against Trabzonspor on July 30.
As far as Malmo are concerned, 24-year-old forward Adi Nalic continues his spell on the sidelines after suffering an ACL injury in April's game against Varnamo.
Newly-signed midfielder Mahame Siby has missed seven consecutive games through a hip problem and the Mali international will also play no part in Thursday's contest.
Veteran forward Ola Toivonen, who boasts three goal involvements in the qualifiers, was an unused sub in the first-leg victory, but the 36-year-old could be thrown into the fray on Thursday.
Sivasspor possible starting lineup:
Yildirim; Yalcin, Goutas, Osmanpasa, Ciftci; Ulvestad, Arslan, Kesgin; Yesilyurt, James, Gradel
Malmo possible starting lineup:
Dahlin; Beijmo, Nielsen, Hadzikadunic, Moisander, Ceesay; Zeidan, Rakip, Christiansen; Thelin, Birmancevic
We say: Sivasspor 1-2 Malmo (Malmo to win 5-2 on aggregate)
With a comfortable first-leg victory in the bag, Malmo will head into the midweek clash with sky-high confidence as they look to finish off the job. Sivasspor have staggered into the new season and we predict that their struggles will continue, with the Swedish outfit claiming another victory on Thursday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
