Round 16 of the 2023 Swedish Allsvenskan season sees AIK Fotboll entertain the challenge of Malmo at the Friends Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams have made highly contrasting starts to the new season but this weekend's encounter promises to be a keenly-contested affair nonetheless.
Match preview
Malmo were beaten for a second game running following a 2-0 defeat against Djurgarden in Monday's encounter between the teams at the Tele2 Arena.
Henrik Rydstrom's men fell behind to Oskar Fallenius's early opener after which Haris Radetinac sealed the deal with nine minutes of normal time left to play.
As a result, Di Blae have dropped down to third in the Swedish Allsvenskan table, one point adrift of Hacken in second and two behind leaders Elfsborg.
Coming up next is a clash against an opposing outfit who have only managed one win from the last 17 editions of this fixture dating back to 2016.
Having lost two of the most recent three outings on the road, Sunday's visitors will be keen to turn their away fortunes around starting with this weekend's trip to Solna.
AIK made an immediate return to winning ways by seeing off the threat of Varberg in a narrow 2-1 victory at the Paskbergsvallen on Monday.
Henning Berg's men raced to a commanding lead at half time thanks to strikes from Sotirios Papagiannopoulos and Mads Thychosen before Niklas Dahlstrom pulled one back.
With 13 points picked up from 15 matches this term, The Gnaws sit 14th in the standings, one point shy of safety, albeit having played one game fewer.
Currently without a win in five straight home games leading up to Sunday, the hosts will need to get going in front of their fans if they are to steer clear of relegation danger.
Team News
Swedish duo Stefano Holmquist and Anton Tinnerholm are both unavailable for Malmo, and they are joined on the sidelines by Anders Christiansen.
The away side will also have to be without the services of Joseph Ceesay, who is currently nursing a head injury he picked up against Djurgarden.
Twenty-six-year-old Mads Thychosen has found the back of the net in his last two appearances for AIK and he will be looking to deliver the goods once again.
Omar Faraj missed the hosts' last outing due to a knock but the forward could make an immediate return to action this weekend.
AIK Fotboll possible starting lineup:
Nordfelt; Haliti, Papagiannopoulos, Ayari, Thychosen; Otieno, Jonsson, Hussein, Modesto; Besirovic, Guidetti
Malmo possible starting lineup:
Dahlin; Busanello, Moisander, Jansson; Rieks, Rosengren, Pena, Ceesay; Nanasi, Thelin, Ali
We say: AIK Fotboll 1-2 Malmo
AIK have struggled at both ends of the pitch of late and face an uphill task of avoiding defeat here. We are expecting an open and end-to-end affair with Malmo just about getting the job done in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
