Round 18 of the 2024 Swedish Allsvenskan season sees Hammarby and Brommapojkarna go head-to-head at the Tele2 Arena on Monday evening.
Having claimed a 2-0 triumph in the first meeting between the teams, the hosts will now set out to complete a league double over their visitors for the first time since 2018.
Match preview
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Following a comprehensive 3-0 win over Mjallby in their previous outing, Hammarby picked up where they left off with a 4-1 victory over Kalmar when the teams faced off at the Guldfageln Arena on Sunday.
Kim Hellberg's men have now come out on top in three league games on the bounce since drawing consecutive blanks in their first two matches back from a mini break towards the end of June.
While Simon Skrabb's late consolation strike last time out denied them a third consecutive clean sheet, De Bajen have overseen a remarkable turnaround in defence of late, with just two goals let in across their last seven league involvements.
Hammarby's form has seen them climb up to third in the Swedish Allsvenskan table, four points behind Djurgarden and a further six points adrift of leaders and defending champions Malmo.
Monday's hosts take on current bottom-half teams in four of their next five matches and now have the opportunity to continue their recent resurgence and pull further clear in the hunt for the final continental spot.
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Brommapojkarna ran riot in front of goal for the second game running en route to a comfortable 4-2 win over an out-of-sorts Halmstad outfit in Saturday's meeting at Grimsta IP.
That was a third victory in four Allsvenskan outings for Andreas Engelmark's men either side of last month's 2-0 defeat to their next opponents in this season's reverse fixture.
With 13 games still left to play this term, De Maif are already up to 24 points—just nine short of their tally from a disappointing campaign last time out, which ended in a bottom-three finish.
While Monday's visitors are not in immediate danger of another relegation scrap, they are only five points clear of the drop zone, and their upcoming tough run of games could see them sucked into the battle for survival.
Nonetheless, Brommapojkarna's newly-found attacking impetus, which has yielded eight goals across the last two games, will inspire confidence heading into the clash against an opposing outfit who have lost just one of the last six competitive meetings.
Team News
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Hammarby's Mads Fenger is set to sit out a seventh game on the bounce due to a knee injury he picked up against Djurgarden in early June.
The home side will also take to the field without the services of Frederik Winther, who is still facing an extended spell on the sidelines.
Nahir Besara has racked up 13 direct goal contributions—seven goals and six assists—in his 16 league matches this term, making him one to keep an eye on.
Swedish trio Kevin Ackermann, Mario Butros and Gustav Sandberg are all unavailable for Brommapojkarna as they continue to nurse respective injuries.
Liam Jordan is also out of contention for the away side through a long-term injury, but the 26-year-old is drawing increasingly closer to a return to action.
Hammarby possible starting lineup:
Hahn; Pinas, Vagic, Eriksson, Skoglund; Tekie, Karlsson; Toure, Besara, Johansson; Erabi
Brommapojkarna possible starting lineup:
Mrozek; Jensen, Barslund, Calisir, Abrahamsson; Odefalk, Andersson, Christensen, Fritzon; Vasic, Jakobsen
We say: Hammarby 2-1 Brommapojkarna
Both sides have found their rhythm in attack of late, which should make for an entertaining contest here.
That said, Hammarby's defensive solidity just about makes them favourites, and we can see the hosts getting the better of their visitors to claim all three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
