BK Hacken Goteborg vs Halmstad
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Today’s featured game is the Allsvenskan encounter between Hacken Goteborg and Halmstad. There were decent things expected from both sides this season but neither has really delivered consistently yet, especially visitors Halmstad.
BK Hacken Goteborg welcome back Joza and Chatto from suspension, which will help them as they’re missing essential midfielder Henriksson and regular defender Wahlstrom today. They won’t mind too much about Wahlstrom; not because he’s not important to the team but because defending isn’t an aspect of football that Hacken focus on. However, Henriksson missing this game is a big blow for Hacken and I struggle to find an adequate replacement for him here. It’s no coincidence at all that Hacken are the leading goalscoring side in the Allsvenskan and that he’s featured in eleven of their twelve games. Henriksson is a club legend and instrumental in their attacking moves so they will miss him for this one. It doesn’t matter how many goals star striker Ranegie has scored so far this season for me – Henriksson’s absence will limit that link between midfield and attack quite heavily and I fancy Hacken to struggle here. Hacken are a very attack-minded side and it’s dangerous to write off their attacking capabilities but they’ve won just twice in six home games this season despite scoring a lot of goals. Why? It’s because their defence is vulnerable and I expect that to still be a factor today.
Visitors Halmstad are horribly underestimated because of a slow start but they’re really not a bad team! Their biggest problem is converting the numerous chances that they’ve created in the past few weeks but the absence of Wahlstrom today could aid them in their hunt for goals. To view Halmstad’s improvement, consider that only IFK Goteborg and Elfsborg Boras (two of the better Allsvenskan sides) have scored against Halmstad in their last five Allsvenskan games. Halmstad played pretty damn well in both games against the two afore-mentioned sides too, irrespective of the final result. Halmstad outplayed Orebro in their last match and should have won but again, it’s a case of them taking their chances. Defensively, they look very assured which is partially due to cohesion and partially due to their new Spanish boss implementing a more “possession” based football approach, something which is really quite unusual to see in the Allsvenskan. Let’s not dismiss Halmstad as relegation fodder here either – they’ve got three youngsters on loan from Real Madrid (all of which have looked pretty good to me), ex-Bayern Munich right-sider Gorlitz, and a great deal of experience in defence with Lithuanian defender Zvirgzdauskas and Rosen overseeing the likes of Magyar. This side keeps the ball well and plays good attacking football, especially now that they’ve got used to one another and their new manager’s style. Halmstad have actually looked pretty damn good lately and it’s not long until they get a due result, which will no doubt be heralded by the whole world of statistics-followers as a “shock”.
Will that be today? It’s hard to say. Hacken are dangerous in front of goal but Halmstad are solid at the back and hard to get the ball off, let alone break through. Halmstad have played well lately and they do actually have good enough attacking players to score goals; it’s simply whether they take their chances or not. I like this tip because Halmstad can surprise a Hacken defence that generally concedes goals everywhere and also because Halmstad can really frustrate the hosts here. It’s not a banker by any stretch of the imagination but I find odds of just over 1/2 on the home win to be very short here with the above in mind so my call is a Halmstad win with a +1 asian handicap at 9/10.
Team news – BK Hacken Goteborg miss Henriksson, Wahlstrom, and Nystrom.
Verdict: Halmstad to win with a +1 asian handicap at 9/10.
Tuesday’s Picks
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games!
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Kuressaare vs Trans Narva (4) 1-1
Sillamae Kalev vs Ajax Lasnamae (9) -1.5 handicap
Irish Premier League:
Derry City vs Sligo Rovers (6) 2-1
Galway United vs St.Patrick’s Athletic (8) 0-2
Drogheda United vs UCD (5) 1-0
Shamrock Rovers vs Dundalk (7) 1-0
Singaporean S-League:
Tampines Rovers vs Armed Forces (6) over 2.5 goals
Swedish Allsvenskan:
BK Hacken Goteborg vs Halmstad (5) 0-0
Enjoy your free betting tips!