Anderlecht – Hammarby

More experienced Belgians will be closer to victory in regulation time

A decade ago, the Brussels-based Anderlecht was the dominant force in Belgian football. The team rarely missed the championship title, regularly played in the group stage of the Champions League, and often reached the playoffs of secondary continental tournaments. Since 2019, Anderlecht's ceiling has been alternating between third and fourth places in the national championship table. Twice during this period the Belgian squad failed to qualify for the Conference League. A month ago Anderlecht appointed Vitor Bruno as head coach, under whose guidance the team played one official match, which took place in Stockholm. If for the Belgian club missing out on the main stage of any European competition is an extraordinary event, then for Hammarby reaching the group stage of the Europa League or Conference League would be a real celebration. The Swedish club has long harbored ambitions to become champions of Allsvenskan and to test itself at a serious European level, but in the first case it never rises above second place, and in the second case it has been nearly twenty years since it has progressed beyond the qualifying rounds. Bookmakers have made the home team favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 2.10 on their victory. The first meeting of the rivals in Sweden took place a week ago. Anderlecht, as the more experienced European campaigner, opened the scoring with a goal in the sixth minute. Overall, the evenly matched contest, with the Belgian visitors leading, continued until the 78th minute, when Anderlecht's Canadian midfielder Natan Saliba was sent off. A numeric majority on the field allowed Hammarby to seize the initiative and equalize the score one minute before the end of regular time. The 1-1 draw leaves both teams with good chances, but the home advantage gives Anderlecht an important edge. Despite the Belgian club losing several key players in the off-season who moved to German and Arabian clubs, the transfer value of the remaining players is twice as high as that of the Swedish guests. Let's bet that the hosts will be closer to victory in regulation time.