Aiming to extend their lead at the summit of the Swedish Allsvenskan table, Malmo will travel to Grimsta IP to take on Brommapojkarna on Saturday.
The visitors lead second place by six points having played a game more at this stage of the campaign thanks to back-to-back wins, while their hosts have moved four points clear of the automatic relegation zone with a victory and a draw from their last two outings.
Match preview
Brommapojkarna return to Grimsta IP with the aim of extending their lead over the Swedish Allsvenskan drop zone and taking an unbeaten streak to three matches on Saturday.
After only avoiding an immediate relegation back to the second tier with a 7-0 aggregate beating of Utsiktens BK in the Allsvenskan playoff last time around, Olof Mellberg's side have again found themselves fighting around the bottom end of the division in the early stages of the new term, despite earning two victories and seven points from their first four outings.
A five-match winless streak would then follow for the Bromma outfit, who added just three more points to their tally culminating in a 5-0 beating at home to second-placed Djurgarden, but they were then able to put daylight between themselves and the bottom three and end their wait for a third league triumph of the campaign in the following meeting with IFK Norrkoping in mid-May.
Nikola Vasic earned his side all three points in that contest with a first-half brace in a 2-1 triumph, scoring either side of Christoffer Nyman's leveller, before they most recently visited basement side Vasteras last Sunday and had to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw as Vasic was again on the scoresheet to level the scores soon before the interval.
Now sitting 10th after their first 11 games with 14 points on the board, three more than Norrkoping in the relegation playoff place and four ahead of Kalmar in the automatic drop zone, Brommapojkarna will set out to make it three games unbeaten for the first time this term and take a major scalp to extend their cushion when the defending champions visit at the weekend.
Indeed, the away side arrive in Bromma in typically strong form, having built an early lead at the top of the division in their bid to retain the Allsvenskan title this term.
Aiming to win the Swedish top flight for the 24th time in their history and the fourth time in a five-season span, Malmo have enjoyed a near-perfect record to start the 2024 campaign, immediately taking top spot having picked up 10 wins and 31 points from their first 12 outings.
Indeed, their only two setbacks thus far, a 3-1 defeat away at Elfsborg and a 2-2 draw with Hacken, came in a four-match run in May, separated by wins over IFK Goteborg and GAIS, and Di Blae have bounced back to maintain a lead at the summit since, putting back-to-back three-point hauls together once again as they firstly thrashed Kalmar 5-0 thanks to Erik Botheim's hat-trick and goals from Hugo Bolin and Isaac Kiese Thelin.
With second-placed Djurgarden hot on their heels in the midst of a fine winning run, Henrik Rydstrom's side most recently welcomed Elfsborg on Tuesday and came from behind to prevail, having conceded an opener inside 10 minutes before Bolin levelled the scores late in the first half and Thelin netted the decisive goal around the hour mark.
Thanks to their swift return to winning ways, Malmo currently lead Djurgarden by six points after 12 matches, one game more than the in-form second-placed outfit, and they will be keen to extend that lead in their latest Allsvenskan defence with a third straight win on Saturday.
Team News
Brommapojkarna continue to deal with several injury issues ahead of the weekend's contest, with Kevin Ackermann, Mario Butros, Gustav Sandberg and Liam Jordan all set to remain confined to the treatment room in the midst of lengthy layoffs.
Midfielder Rasmus Orqvist also saw his substitute appearance against Vasteras cut short last time out and may also miss out after replacing Ludvig Fritzson at the interval and coming off 30 minutes later.
In their 4-3-3 shape, Nikola Vasic is bound to lead the line with confidence, having scored three goals in their last two outings to take his tally to six alongside four assists in 11 Allsvenskan appearances so far this term, while Fritzson will hope to be deemed fit to join Kaare Barslund and Wilmer Odefalk in the midfield again.
Malmo are impacted by several injuries of their own, with Niklas Moisander, Oscar Lewicki, Daniel Gudjohnsen having missed the entirety of the season thus far, while Stefano Holmquist has been out since early April.
Henrik Rydstrom may deploy an unchanged starting XI from their victory over Elfsborg last time out, with Isaac Kiese Thelin continuing to lead the line in their 4-2-3-1 setup having already notched up nine goals in 11 league games this term, including one in each of their last three outings.
He will have plenty of support from the trio of Anders Christiansen, Hugo Bolin, who has also scored in back-to-back games, and Erik Botheim, who moved onto eight top-flight goals for the season alongside five assists with his hat-trick in their thrashing of Kalmar, while Lasse Berg Johnsen and Sergio Pena will again line up in the midfield with Pontus Jansson and Derek Cornelius bound to continue their centre-back partnership.
Brommapojkarna possible starting lineup:
Sidklev; Jensen, Abrahamsson, Heggem, Waker; Fritzson, Barslund, Odefalk; Andersson, Vasic, Christensen
Malmo possible starting lineup:
Dahlin; Larsen, Jansson, Cornelius, Busanello; Johnsen, Pena; Botheim, Christiansen, Bolin; Thelin
We say: Brommapojkarna 1-3 Malmo
Malmo appear to have rediscovered their winning formula after a pair of setbacks recently, and while their hosts may make it difficult in Bromma, we see Henrik Rydstrom's side having too much quality and making it three wins on the bounce on Saturday.
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Sam Varley
