Vejle BK will look to secure their Superliga status on Monday evening when they face basement club Hvidovre at Vejle Stadion in the penultimate match of the season.
The hosts enter this crucial fixture in third place in the relegation round standings, while the visitors are bottom of the table and will be playing for nothing but pride in their last two games.
Match preview
After earning promotion by a nine-point margin last season, Vejle looked as though they were going to make a swift return to the Danish First Division this term when they finished the regular season second-bottom with just 16 points in 22 games.
However, they have come to life in the playoff round and now need just one more win to guarantee their top-flight survival, currently on 33 points, four points ahead of Odense, who are the first side below the dotted line.
The Reds have earned an impressive 14 points in eight games in the playoffs, including four victories - the same number of wins they managed throughout the regular season.
Ivan Prelec's side claimed a 1-0 victory over Lyngby last week, with German Onugkha scoring the only goal of the match, which extended his side's current win streak to three in a row while they are unbeaten in their last four.
While three points will undoubtedly be the target for the hosts here, their top-flight survival could be guaranteed even with a defeat, provided Odense do not pick up any points at home to Randers.
Meanwhile, Hvidovre, who followed Velje to the top flight, have known their fate for a while now and will play out the final two games of the season as a formality before returning to the First Division next term.
The Old Giants ended the regular season with just 11 points in 22 games and are now on 19 points, meaning that even back-to-back wins in the next two games will still see them fall well short of safety.
Per Frandsen's side slumped to a 2-1 defeat to OB in their last match, extending their winless run to three matches following a 2-2 draw away to Randers and a 1-0 loss to Viborg at the start of the month.
Nevertheless, the visitors will want to end the season on a high note and will take confidence from the fact that they have avoided defeat in their last three away games and beat this opponent 2-1 at home last month.
Team News
Vejle will have to make do without the services of DR Congo international Yeni Ngbakoto, who is ruled out for the match due to injury and is only expected to return to action in the 2024-25 preseason.
Onugkha has proven to be the star player of this round and has now scored in six consecutive games leading up to this one. The Russian attacker will almost certainly lead the line once more on Monday alongside strike-partner Musa Juwara, who has netted two goals in the last three matches.
The visitors are missing three players due to injury, including midfielder Mads Kaalund, who has not featured since picking up a knock in the 1-0 defeat to Viborg at the start of the month.
Joining Kaalund on the sidelines are longer-term absentees Marco Ramkilde and Nicolai Clausen, both of whom will play no further part in the current campaign.
Vejle possible starting lineup:
Trott; Velkov, Albentosa, Provstgaard; Gundelund, Francois, Barry, Colina; Emmanouilidis, Onugkha, Juwara
Hvidovre possible starting lineup:
Djukic; Iljazovski, Hansen, Olsen, Nielsen; Smed, Fredslund; Joergensen, Jakobsen, Qamili; Thomsen
We say: Vejle 2-1 Hvidovre
Vejle have sprung to life in recent weeks and are the form side in the round at the moment. The hosts have rattled off three wins on the bounce to take them to the verge of safety and we feel they will secure their top-flight status with another victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
