Aiming to conquer one of the favourites to win the competition, Malmo will host Turkish giants Galatasaray at Eleda Stadion for a Europa League battle on Thursday evening.
Di Blae have already wrapped up their domestic crown in 2024 but continue to struggle in Europe, whilst Cimbom are on their way to a success-laden campaign on all fronts.
Match preview
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Highlighting their dominance in recent years on the domestic scene, Malmo have now won the Swedish Allsvenskan in four of the last five seasons, finishing their 2024 campaign on November 10 with a 2-1 win over Brommapojkarna, meaning that Thursday's hosts ended up 11 points ahead of second-placed Hammarby.
That being said, Di Blae are struggling to convert their chokehold on the Swedish game into tangible results on the continental scene, with the Scandinavian powerhouses winning just one of their five League Phase matches so far, leaving them in danger of elimination from the competition in January.
Since a hard-fought 2-1 victory in Azerbaijan against Qarabag FK on October 3, Malmo have suffered three straight defeats in the Europa League, losing to all of Olympiacos, Besiktas and Hungarian champions Ferencvaros by an aggregate scoreline of 7-2 over the trio of contests.
Holding his nerve from 12 yards out last month, a converted penalty from Erik Botheim provided hope of a result for Di Blae at Groupama Arena in Budapest last time out, however a Barnabas Varga brace - coupled with second-half strikes from Kady Malinowski and Ibrahim Cisse secured maximum points for Ferencvaros in convincing fashion.
A veteran of the Europa League courtesy of his spells at Bordeaux, Anderlecht and Bayer Leverkusen, Isaac Kiese Thelin will need to sprinkle some of his goalscoring magic during the final three gameweeks if Malmo are to snatch a top-24 finish, with the 31-year-old netting 15 goals in 26 Allsvenskan appearances across 2024.
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Galatasaray will travel to Sweden on Thursday night as one of Europe's in-form sides, with the Turkish giants in the midst of a 17-game unbeaten streak across all competitions following a dramatic victory in a five-goal thriller at Sivasspor in the Turkish Super Lig on Sunday.
Goals from ex-Leicester City man Yunus Akgun, talisman Victor Osimhen and prodigy Baris Yilmaz sandwiched two successful efforts for the hosts at BG Group 4 Stadium, where Cimbom picked up a win that propelled them to the very summit of the top-flight standings, six points ahead of second-placed Fenerbahce.
Focusing on Europa League matters, Galatasaray are one of seven teams in the 36-club League Phase who still boast an unbeaten record after five matches, with Okan Buruk's troops currently occupying fourth spot, just two points behind pacesetters Lazio and one point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur in ninth.
In truth, Cimbom missed a golden chance to put one foot in the knockout stages of the competition last time out in the Europa League, when they could only manage a 1-1 draw at AFAS Stadion against AZ Alkmaar, with an early goal from Dutchman Sven Mijnans putting the hosts ahead early on.
Making the shock loan move to Galatasaray from Napoli over the summer - despite a host of European giants vying for his services - Nigeria international Osimhen is proving to be quite the asset for the Turkish outfit, netting 10 times in 13 competitive appearances to date.
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Team News
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With extensive experience in the English game courtesy of his time at Brentford and Leeds United, Pontus Jansson is a major miss for Malmo at the moment as he recovers from a knee injury.
Di Blae are also without the services of former Stoke City winger Sead Haksabanovic, who suffered a season-ending groin injury during the final stages of August.
Also out of action for the remainder of 2024-25, Mauro Icardi made a sensational start to the term for Galatasaray before suffering a cruciate ligament injury.
Adding to Cimbom's selection headaches at the top of the pitch, 24-year-old Yilmaz has been ruled out until the New Year with a thigh strain.
As a result, the visitors will need to promote one of the forwards from Sunday's bench into the starting XI, with Michy Batshuayi a possible candidate for that position.
Malmo possible starting lineup:
Friedrich; Larsen, Rosler, Zatterstrom, Busanello; Pena, Johnsen, Thelin, Christiansen, Rosengren; Botheim
Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Sanchez, Baltaci, Bardakci; Kutlu, Torreira, Sara, Akgun, Mertens; Batshuayi, Osimhen
We say: Malmo 0-2 Galatasaray
Despite their dominance of the Allsvenskan this season, Malmo become the underdogs once they step onto the continental stage, and Thursday night's clash will be no different.
Galatasaray are approaching 18 matches without defeat across all competitions, and it is hard to imagine anything other than a Cimbom success at Eleda Stadion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
