A clash of major importance at both ends of the Swedish Allsvenskan table will take place at the Tele2 Arena on Sunday, as Djurgardens IF welcome IFK Goteborg.
The hosts moved within four points of league leaders Malmo with a victory last weekend before completing their Europa Conference League second-qualifying-round tie on Thursday, while their visitors find themselves a single point above the relegation zone following a defeat last time out.
Match preview
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Djurgardens IF return to Allsvenskan action at the weekend aiming to narrow the gap to top spot, having enjoyed a fine start to their latest title pursuit and bounced back to mover closer to the leaders last time out.
Following a fourth-placed finish last time around, the Jarnkaminerna headed into the mid-season break in second spot on 25 points from 12 outings on the back of a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Hammarby, but they returned in style in July, moving closer to defending champions Malmo with consecutive victories over Norrkoping and Varnamo.
Kim Bergstrand and Thomas Lagerlof's side would then suffer another setback in a 2-1 loss away at relegation-threatened Kalmar, but they again bounced back last weekend, making a swift return to winning ways by beating Elfsborg 2-1 on their travels thanks to Patric Aslund's opener and Besard Sabovic's 77th-minute winner.
The Jarnkaminerna then most recently visited Luxembourgish outfit Progres Niederkorn for the second leg of their Europa Conference League second-round qualifying tie on Thursday, and after picking up a 3-0 victory on home turf, they saw out the aggregate triumph in a 1-0 defeat on the night as Hamadou Karamoko netted the only goal in the third minute, with Bergstrand and Lagerlof's men standing strong to stay ahead after Jacob Une Larsson was sent off in the first half.
Now turning their focus back to the domestic campaign having moved four points behind Malmo in their search for a first Allsvenskan title since 2019, Djurgarden will bid to make it back-to-back league wins to ramp up the pressure on Sunday.
Their visitors arrive desperate for a victory of their own in the fight at the other end of the division, having been dragged within a single point of the bottom three once again last weekend.
Having fought around the bottom three of the Allsvenskan table for the entirety of the campaign thus far, IFK Goteborg returned from the mid-season break on 14 points from 12 outings, and after suffering a disappointing away defeat to fellow strugglers Varnamo, they did build a slight lead with a 1-0 triumph away at Hammarby in mid-July thanks to Paulos Abraham's first-half goal.
A home meeting with basement side Vasteras SK then followed, and they looked set to pick up another one-goal victory through Abraham, only to be pegged back deep into injury time by an Abdelrahman Boudah leveller and forced to share the points.
Aiming to bounce back from that disappointment and climb the table, Stefan Billborn's side most recently hosted Brommapojkarna last Saturday and fell short in an eventful contest, initially leading through Gustav Svensson only to fall to an eventual 4-3 defeat despite Arbnor Mucolli and Kolbeinn Thordarson reducing the deficit to a single goal on two occasions with the latter coming too late to spark a turnaround.
Having now seen their lead over Norrkoping in the relegation playoff place cut to a single point and their lead over the automatic drop zone reduced to two, Goteborg will be keen to make a return to winning ways on Sunday in a bid to move clear of the threat of relegation in the coming weeks.
Team News
Djurgardens IF should deploy the same starting XI from last week's 2-1 Allsvenskan win over Elfsborg, with defender Jacob Une Larsson able to play despite his red card in midweek with that suspension instead carrying over to their next Europa Conference League outing.
He should partner Miro Tenho at the heart of a back four, while Samuel Leach Holm and Rasmus Schuller will compete to join Besard Sabovic at the base of the midfield.
Deniz Hummet is bound to lead their line in a 4-2-3-1 shape, having already notched up 10 goals and three assists in 18 appearances across Allsvenskan and Europa Conference League action this term, while Gustav Wikheim, Patric Aslund and Tobias Gulliksen offer further threat in a supporting trio.
IFK Goteborg could remain without danger man Paulos Abraham at the weekend, with the winger having missed their defeat to Brommapojkarna after moving onto six league goals for the season by scoring consecutively in their victory over Hammarby and the draw with Vasteras.
In the expected absence of their top scorer, Arbnor Mucolli should again take plenty of attacking responsibility on the left wing after hitting his fourth of the campaign last time out, while Laurs Skjellerup will hope to again spearhead their front line in a similar 4-2-3-1 setup to that of their hosts.
A change is anticipated between the sticks, with Anders Kristiansen set to replace Elis Bishesari after the latter was forced off in the first half of their eventual 4-3 defeat.
Djurgardens IF possible starting lineup:
Zetterstrom; Stahl, Tenho, Larsson, Kosugi; Schuller, Sabovic; Wikheim, Aslund, Gulliksen; Hummet
IFK Goteborg possible starting lineup:
Kristiansen; Salomonsson, Svensson, Wendt, Trondsen; Erlingmark, Thordarson; Santos, Norlin, Mucolli; Skjellerup
We say: Djurgardens IF 2-0 IFK Goteborg
Despite facing a quick turnaround from their midweek continental outing, Djurgardens IF should back themselves to make their extra quality count against a struggling Goteborg side on Sunday, and we do not see them faltering in their pursuit of top spot in the Allsvenskan.
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Sam Varley
