Malmo FF vs Kalmar FF
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Today’s secondary featured game is the Allsvenskan game in south-west Sweden between Malmo FF and Kalmar FF.
Malmo have already lost everyone’s confidence after two Allsvenskan games and that pleases me; they play far better football out of the spotlight and without expectation weighing heavy on their shoulders. They let themselves go in their pre-season friendlies, scoring freely and recording impressive wins against Elfsborg Boras and BK Hacken Goteborg respectively. Malmo are a top five side, essentially, but only when opportunity knocks.
It’s hard to know when to back Malmo and when not to, to be honest, but I do fancy them here. Yes, they were drubbed by Hacken and they failed to score against Gefle but that can at least be partially undestood, although they’re no less acceptable for the Malmo faithful. Everyone in Sweden knows how Gefle play away from home; they park the bus and try to counter-attack. They have no attacking power but they can defend in the right game and a pressurised Malmo side was the ideal opponent in many ways as Malmo don’t like pressure and Gefle build themselves up more for games against bigger sides. Hacken – well, they took their chances, and Malmo didn’t. The scoreline was unacceptable, as was the defeat, but Malmo capitulated and Hacken capitalised, to phrase it simply!
For this game, we can expect to see old hand Daniel Andersson stepping into defence to replace Helander and that experience at the back will be most welcome in a Malmo side that is a bit short of both experience and cohesion at the moment. As far as quality goes, though, there can be no doubts about how good this Malmo side actually is. Ranegie has been one of the Allsvenskan’s top goalscorers for a few years now and Larsson is a very capable attacker too. Wilton is a magician and both Hamad and Durmaz are constant threats. Malmo need a bit of confidence, experience, and momentum to get themselves going and I think they’ll start that today. They’ve got the players to win the game and I expect them to do it.
Kalmar are a capable side too, but only at the Guldfageln Arena. They’re notoriously bad travellers in Sweden although I’m not sure why – the trip from the east coast to places like Malmo and Goteborg really isn’t that far! Of course, you could look at the massive amount of support that Kalmar have at home that they don’t usually have on the road – that’s probably quite instrumental.
However, what interests me most of all is the loss of quality that Kalmar suffered pre-season. They had some excellent players last season that always posed an attacking threat in Ricardo Santos, Daniel Mendes, and especially Daniel Sobralense. Both Sobralense and Santos have left Kalmar now, which leaves poor old Daniel Mendes to carry Kalmar’s attack on his own. Dauda returns for this game to give Bergstrand an alternative up front but I just don’t see Kalmar having the necessary firepower to get a result here.
On the road, Kalmar tend to concede daft goals and with goalkeeper Berisha between the sticks, I can’t see that changing in the near future. Kalmar ruined their game at home with AIK because he failed to keep out a fairly routine strike from Mutumba. AIK weren’t penetrating much at the time but that forced Kalmar to come forward more. They eventually found an equaliser and then typically conceded again in usual Kalmar fashion. Kalmar are a good tactical side, usually – give them a lead and they’re a handful to deal with. However, if they fall behind, they become headless chickens and tend to concede more goals.
Therefore, I have to favour Malmo here. I think Malmo have more than enough firepower to rattle Kalmar here and they should be able to increase it further as the game progresses. Don’t rule out Kalmar scoring; they’ve got some good players in their ranks. However, Malmo are the better side with far more firepower and they should make their home advantage count so 4/5 on Malmo winning appeals to me today.
Verdict: Malmo FF to win at 4/5.
Friday’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!
Argentinian Primera Division:
Estudiantes De La Plata vs Colon de Santa Fe (6) 1-0
Austrian Liga 1:
St.Polten vs LASK Linz (6)
Lustenau vs First Vienna (6)
Grodig vs WAC/St.Andra (6)
Blau-Weiss Linz vs Austria Lustenau (5)
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Cercle Brugge vs Lierse SK (7) 1-0
Westerlo vs Sint-Truiden (6) 2-1
Chilean Primera Division:
Union Espanola vs Rangers (7) 2-0
Colombian Primera A:
Deportivo Cali vs Deportes Quindio (6) 1-0
Croatian Prva Liga:
Inter Zapresic vs Lucko (6) 1-0
Dinamo Zagreb vs Zadar (8) 2-0
Czech Republic Gambrinus Liga:
Ceske Budejovice vs Slavia Prague (6) 1-0
Danish 1st Division:
Esbjerg vs AB Copenhagen (8)
Viborg vs Skive (6)
Ecuadorian Primera A:
Deportivo Cuenca vs LDU Loja (7) 1-0
Deportivo Quito vs Barcelona Guayaquil (6) 1-0
English Championship:
Southampton vs Reading (4) both sides to score
German Bundesliga:
VfB Stuttgart vs Werder Bremen (7) 2-1
Hungarian Soproni Liga:
Kaposvari Rakoczi vs Diosgyori VTK (7) 2-1
Irish Premier League:
Sligo Rovers vs Derry City (5) 1-1
Cork City vs Monaghan United (7) 1-0
Drogheda United vs St.Patrick’s Athletic (6) 1-2
UCD vs Bohemians (4) 1-1
Shamrock Rovers vs Dundalk (7) 2-0
Shelbourne vs Bray Wanderers (6) 2-1
Mexican Primera Division:
Estudiantes Tecos vs Puebla (6) 1-1
Jaguares vs Tijuana (7) 1-0
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Fredrikstad vs Rosenborg BK (5) 1-1
Polish Ekstraklasa:
GKS Belchatow vs Jagiellonia Bialystok (6) 1-0
Korona Kielce vs Zaglebie Lubin (5) 1-1
Polish Liga 1:
Piast Gliwice vs Nieciecza (6)
Romanian Liga:
Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt vs FC Brasov (5) 1-0
Petrolul Ploiesti vs CFR Cluj (6) 0-1
Singaporean S-League:
Hougang United vs Albirex Niigata (6) 1-2
DPMM FC vs Tanjong Pagar (8) 2-0
Slovakian Corgon Liga:
Spartak Trnava vs Senica (6) 1-1
Spanish Segunda Liga:
Almeria vs Villarreal II (7)
Swedish Allsvenskan:
Malmo FF vs Kalmar FF (7) 1-0
Swedish Superettan:
Osters vs Trelleborg FF (4)
Ukrainian Premier League:
Obolon Kiev vs Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (6) 2-1
Welsh Premier League:
Aberystwyth Town vs Airbus UK
Carmarthen Town vs Afan Lido
Enjoy your free betting tips!