TFT Issue 153!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
IFK Norrkoping vs Malmo FF – away win at 9/10.
Today’s featured game is the Allsvenskan encounter between IFK Norrkoping and Malmo FF. These two sides met in Malmo in the last round of Allsvenskan fixtures with the scoreline ending 2-1 in favour of today’s visitors and a similar scoreline today wouldn’t surprise me.
I’ve mentioned in the past that I don’t rate IFK Norrkoping highly and nothing has changed since then. They’re still a spirited bunch of players and there’s simply no questioning their work ethic. However, when it comes to quality, they’re a bit on the short side and it’s starting to show. Without a win since mid-May – late April for their last Allsvenskan win! – IFK Norrkoping are really finding life tough with a lack of firepower and a lack of defensive ability. They’ve lost three consecutive games ahead of this one and have shipped seven goals along the way, scoring just twice. They’ve failed to score in four out of their last six home games in all competitions, losing four times and drawing twice. The only side that hasn’t scored at least two goals at IFK Norrkoping during that six-game run is bizarrely reigning champions Helsingborg, who drew a blank here in a 0-0 draw. Every other side has bagged at least twice and that speaks volumes for IFK Norrkoping’s defence. However, it’s about to get a whole lot worse today with integral defenders Friberg da Cruz and Floren both out today; the former is injured and the latter is suspended. As if that wasn’t bad enough, IFK Norrkoping have inexplicably named their starting eleven well ahead of this game today, which against a superior side like Malmo FF is just asking for trouble.
I suppose you could question Malmo’s interest in this game, really. They’ve got a much more important UEFA Champions League home game with HB Torshavn of the Faroe Islands coming up in a few days and the squad they’ve selected for this game does indicate that they’ve got half of their minds on it with the likes of Rexhepi absent today. However, they’ve still brought a good squad of players and despite the departed Molins having affected the potency of their team and their change of manager unbalancing the side a little, it cannot be denied that Malmo are at least two or three times better than IFK Norrkoping. With promising kids Larsson and Mehmeti likely to lead the line and Brazilian winger Wilton Figueiredo set to wreak havoc upon a vulnerable IFK Norrkoping defence, I really fancy Malmo to do some damage here. The continued absence of Dahlin in goal does unsettle their back four, unfortunately, and thus I won’t rule out Malmo conceding a goal or two here. However, I’d be lying if I said I thought anything but an away win would materialise after ninety minutes is up.
There’s a big quality difference here and although it may quite literally come down to who scores the most goals, there’s only one winner in that dual for me and that’s Malmo. They’ve got some very talented attacking players and IFK Norrkoping are utterly bereft of defenders here so the away win appeals to me at 9/10.
Team news – IFK Norrkoping miss Mwafulirwa, Friberg da Cruz, and Floren whereas Malmo FF miss Dahlin, Vinzents, Rexhepi, and Hamad.
Verdict: Malmo FF to win at 9/10.