In a replay of Thursday's Svenska Cupen final, Malmo and Hacken will do battle in Swedish Allsvenskan action at Eleda Stadion on Sunday.
The visitors prevailed in a penalty shootout in that final to secure the first silverware of the domestic season, while they trail their fifth-placed hosts by four points in the table.
Match preview
© Imago
Malmo return to Swedish Allsvenskan action on Sunday aiming to avenge their midweek cup final defeat and bounce back to winning ways in their league title defence.
After winning a second straight title in 2024, and the 24th in their history, Di Blae have experienced a relatively slow start to the new term by their own standards, currently sitting fifth having earned 19 points from their opening 12 games, winning five and losing three of those.
It is in attack where Henrik Rydstrom's side have fallen short thus far, with six sides topping their tally of 16 goals at this stage, although they would improve their standing at the top end of the table with convincing wins over Degerfors and Halmstad either side of an away draw with Varnamo in mid-May.
A goalless draw with title-chasers AIK would follow, before Di Blae visited IFK Goteborg last weekend and saw an unbeaten run come to an end in a disappointing 1-0 defeat, as Kolbeinn Thordarson netted the only goal of the game for the hosts on the hour mark.
Now on the back of the Svenska Cupen final in midweek, which saw them fall short in a penalty shootout against the visitors, and with their focus fully on their league bid having already fallen eight points behind the leaders, Malmo will aim to kickstart a winning run on home turf on Sunday.
Their visitors, meanwhile, return to action after their cup triumph aiming to narrow their gap to the hosts and the top six.
After an eighth-placed Swedish Allsvenskan finish last time around, Hacken currently find themselves in the same spot, having earned 15 points from their first 11 outings, winning four and losing four of those.
The most recent of those losses came away at Sirius in mid-May, and they would go on to bounce back with a creditable 3-3 draw against AIK and a 2-0 triumph over Varnamo thanks to Samuel Leach Holm's brace.
A 1-1 draw away at Djurgardens IF then followed last weekend, having led through Simon Gustafson, before the Getingarna picked up the first silverware of the season and their fourth Svenska Cupen title in midweek, as a penalty shootout was the only thing to separate the sides after a goalless draw.
Now turning their focus back to the Swedish top flight, Hacken will again bid to get the better of Malmo on Sunday and extend their climb towards the top end of the table under Jens Gustafsson.
Team News
Malmo head into the weekend without key midfielder Lasse Johnsen, who will face a one-match suspension, while Erik Botheim, Stefano Holmquist, Pontus Jansson and Gentian Lajqi remain sidelined by injuries.
In the absence of Botheim, Isaac Kiese Thelin will continue to lead the attack having netted seven goals so far this season, albeit with only two of those coming in the Allsvenskan.
Anders Christiansen may partner Otto Rosengren in the engine room in Johnsen's place, leaving room for Sead Haksabanovic to join the attacking ranks from the outset.
Hacken may be unchanged from the Svenska Cupen final, with Abdoulaye Faye, Johan Hammar, Srdja Hrstic, Zeidane Inoussa, Jacob Laursen, Amor Layouni, Julius Lindberg, Leo Vaisanen and Brice Wembangomo making up a long injury list.
In the expected absence of top scorers Hrstic and Layouni, Simon Gustafson should again be relied upon to lead the attack, while Severin Nioule and Isak Brusberg could again join him in a front three.
Samuel Leach Holm offers further attacking threat from midfield, having scored four goals in the last three Allsvenskan outings, while Silas Andersen should again partner Marius Lode at the back.
Malmo possible starting lineup:
Ellborg; Stryger, Lewicki, Rosler, Busanello; Rosengren, Christiansen; Ali, Haksabanovic, Bolin; Kiese
Hacken possible starting lineup:
Berisha; Ohman, Andersen, Lode, Lundkvist; Rygaard, Holm, Dahbo; Brusberg, Gustafson, Nioule
We say: Malmo 1-0 Hacken
Despite their slow start to the season and Thursday's eventual defeat, Malmo do have the quality to get the better of Hacken, particularly given the visitors' extensive injuries, and we back them to avenge the midweek loss with a victory in another low-scoring encounter on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
