Kalmar – Pyunik

The Swedish mid-table side will take on Armenia's second team at home

Sweden's Kalmar return to European football tournaments after more than a decade since their last visit. By historical standards, this team is quite mediocre for the Scandinavian country. Kalmar have won the Swedish championship just once, but are holding their own in the Allsvenskan for the twentieth consecutive season. In 2019 and 2020, the Red Brothers were on the verge of relegation from the elite division, finishing fourteenth in the championships and proving their right to play in the Allsvenskan in the knockout matches with the third Superettan clubs. The past two seasons have stabilised Kalmar as a team in the top half of the standings, with the last one allowing them to qualify for the Conference League from fourth place. Pyunik won the Armenian championship again the year before last after several years of stagnation. Last season was a historic one for this team in terms of appearances in European tournaments. For the first time Pyunik reached the group stage of European cups. Largely because of this, the club failed to defend the title in the Armenian championship against Urartu. The final second place allows Pyunik to try again in the Conference League. The team started the qualification in the first stage, where it faced Narva. The Estonian club in this duel lasted only a half, losing the remaining three with a total score of 0:5. Bookmakers have identified the home team as the favourites for the upcoming encounter, offering odds of 1.87 on their victory. Kalmar will go into the first match of the second round of qualification with at least two favourable factors. Firstly, the Swedes will play at their home stadium "Guldfogeln Arena", which is not the most fortunate place to get to from Armenia. Secondly, the Swedish championship is in full swing and has even passed the equator. Kalmar won only one of the four rounds in July, but the team's form can't be called a crisis. Moreover, the matches against Narva are the only game practice for Pyunik for the last almost two months. And this Estonian team now even in a frankly weak national championship "passes" near the relegation zone. We bet that Kalmar will win at home.