Early-strugglers Sirius make the trip to Gothenburg to face GAIS in the Allsvenskan on Saturday evening.
Both clubs have been battling at the wrong end of the table during the first third of the campaign, with the visitors starting the weekend in the relegation playoff place.
Match preview
© Imago
For a club who finished just six points adrift of European qualification last season, GAIS will be disappointed at failing to kick on in the early stages of this campaign.
The Makrillarna are just three points above the drop zone, and became the first club to drop points to bottom-of-the-table Varnamo earlier this month, missing a huge opportunity to move up the table.
Fredrik Holmberg's men did respond by winning 3-1 away to Halmstad, but they failed to beat another club currently occupying one of the relegation places last weekend, drawing 1-1 with Oster.
Another club in the same predicament awaits for GAIS, and the hosts will hope for better fortunes, with three points being paramount from this home fixture.
GAIS have only lost twice in their first 10 games this season, but they have also only won twice, with a whopping 60% of their matches ending level so far.
The hosts will look to take inspiration from their meeting with Sirius last season, when they ended a five-game winless streak in the fixture by beating them 2-1, thanks to a late goal by Edvin Becirovic.
Sirius will be keen to avenge that defeat back in Gothenburg, especially considering they find themselves in the relegation playoff spot.
The visitors are three points and four places behind GAIS though, illustrating how quickly they could move up the standings with a few positive results.
Andreas Engelmark's men have scored more goals than any other club in the bottom half, but that comes as no surprise when you see that they have lost matches 4-3 and 3-2 already this season, and a goal against Norrkoping on Monday was also not enough to take anything, as they were beaten 2-1.
A challenging schedule lays ahead for the Blasvart, with their next two home matches coming against title-chasers AIK and Mjallby, so it is imperative they end a four-game winless run on the road, with their next two away matches coming against GAIS and Oster, which are both winnable.
Team News
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GAIS are set to be without both Axel Henriksson and Lucas Hedlund due to injury for this clash, as the latter missed the trip to Oster last weekend, while the former has been absent for all of May.
The one to watch in this fixture will be GAIS forward Ibrahim Diabate, who bagged a hat trick in the win at Halmstad, and found the important equaliser against Oster a week ago, leaving the former Sevilla and Atletico Madrid striker joint-top of the scoring charts.
Sirius will be without Patrick Nwadike and Herman Sjogrell for this trip to Gothenburg, but in the latter's absence, Scot Robbie Ure has been in good form, scoring in back-to-back matches before registering an assist on Monday.
Leo Walta has been the talisman for Sirius this season though, scoring five goals in six games, leaving him just one goal off the top of the Allsvenskan scoring chart.
GAIS possible starting lineup:
Krasniqi; Frej, Cardaklija, Agren, De Brienne; Lundgren, Aberg, Ibrahim; Niklasson, Diabate, Amatkarijo
Sirius possible starting lineup:
Diawara; Voelkerling, Sandberg, Anker, Mamatsashvili; Walta, Lindberg, Heier; Persson, Ure, Milleskog
We say: GAIS 1-1 Sirius
Sirius may have lost their last two matches, but one came against a strong Hammarby, and on the balance of play they deserved more against Norrkoping on Monday, so an improved result should be on the cards.
GAIS have flattered to deceive with some disappointing results so far against clubs near the bottom, drawing against the current bottom two, and while they will be slight favourites, they have been unconvincing for large periods so far.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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Andrew Delaney
