Goeteborg – Malmoe

The away champion will play better than the division’s mid-table side

Gothenburg will host one of the central fights of the game day. But it's not about the current state of affairs in the Swedish league, but about the historical component of the clash. The two clubs have combined to win more than forty Allsvenskan titles. Malmö is the most titled team in Sweden Gothenburg is the second in the honourable list. Another thing is that none of the rivals can be proud of their results this season. Even though the teams had different objectives for the championship. Gothenburg has never finished higher than seventh in eight previous Allsvenskan draws. Stefan Billborn's current team has been considered the division's mid-tier team year after year, so the current ninth position is not much of an embarrassment. Malmo started the season as champions and the main favourites to win the Allsvenskan. Very quickly "sky-blues" disappointed their fans and gave the status of a key contender for gold medals to Hammarby. Bookmakers have identified the visitors as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.99 on their victory. Gothenburg has already met with Malmo in the current football year. Billborn's wards reached the semi-finals of the Swedish Cup, where they conceded two goals in the first half from the reigning champion. However, Gothenburg showed character and equalised a few minutes before the final whistle. In the second extra time, Malmö finished off their opponents, but Gothenburg came away with their heads held high. The hosts have started the current league season well, winning three of their opening five games. In the last five rounds Gothenburg won only the newcomer of the division - Degerfors. This shows the team's poor form. Malmö won two starting matches of the championship. Taking into account that the champion dealt with quite strong Jurgården and Elfsborg, the bookmakers were convinced of their rightness regarding the choice of Malmo as the favourite for the new season. However, the sky-blues showed a hard-to-explain weakness. The next eight rounds brought the champion three victories, in which the opponents were either outsiders or newcomers to the division: Degerfors, Ester and Halmstad. In the other five encounters, Malmö have achieved, at best, a draw. The champion defeated Gothenburg in both meetings last season and will be closer to beating them on Sunday.