AIK Fotboll are set to host IFK Goteborg at the Friends Arena in Sweden's Allsvenskan on Monday.
The home side are in ninth place on 14 points and are seven from third-placed GAIS, who occupy the division's final Europa Conference League qualification spot, while the visitors are 12th with 11 points.
Match preview
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The hosts began the 2024 season positively, remaining unbeaten in their first five league fixtures, winning three times.
AIK's first loss of the season came in their sixth match week against current leaders Malmo, but in the following game they responded with an emphatic 6-2 victory against Norrkoping.
However, that promising start has since been derailed by a run of three consecutive losses including a heavy 6-1 away defeat to Elfsborg on April 15.
Manager Henning Berg took over the club in July 2023 and he has enjoyed some success, helping AIK reach the semi-finals of the Svenska Cupen in 2024.
However, some fans were concerned that AIK had been overperforming in the opening stages of this season, and recent losses suggest that may have been the case.
The home side have been disappointing over the last few campaigns as they have only finished in the top three once in their previous five seasons, while they had finished in the top three every year from 2013 to 2018.
Berg will hope to correct his side's poor form and help AIK move up the table with a victory on Monday.
Visitors Goteborg are only two points behind their upcoming opponents but they are level on points with 14th-placed Norrkoping, who occupy the league's relegation playoff spot.
Having said that, Blavitt are only 10 points from the Europa Conference League positions in the Allsvenskan table, and though it is unlikely that they close the gap, there are still 20 games left to play and much can change.
Jens Berthel Askou was appointed manager of Goteborg in June 2023 and is averaging 1.4 points per game so far, the same figure he achieved with his previous side Horsens in Denmark.
This league season Askou has overseen three wins, two draws and five losses, and though this is a poor overall return, Goteborg did win last time out against Mjallby.
The away side performed badly on the road last season, winning just three times in 15 top-flight games, but to their credit they have already won twice on their travels this term.
If the visitors are to climb up the table then getting a positive result on Monday would be a good way to begin.
Team News
AIK come into the game with numerous absentees including midfielder Ismaila Coulibaly, who received a second yellow card in his team's outing last weekend against Hammarby.
As for injury concerns, midfielders Abdihakin Ali, Eskil Edh and Alexander Fesshaie are expected to be out of action until June, while forward John Guidetti is also out until next month.
Defenders Martin Ellingsen and Alexander Milosevic will also miss Monday's clash with injuries and are not scheduled to be back until June as well.
Goteborg meanwhile have a similar number of injury concerns with Pontus Dahlberg out after suffering a cruciate ligament injury and Hussein Carneil set to miss the rest of the season.
Elsewhere, forwards Arbnor Mucolli, Laurs Skjellerup and Suleiman Abdullahi will likely miss a number of weeks.
The visitors will also be without defenders Emil Salomonsson and Mattias Johansson until June as a result of leg injuries.
AIK Fotboll possible starting lineup:
Nordfeldt; Modesto, Hansen, Papagiannopoulos, Bjornstrom; Ayari, Ring, Saletros, Celina; Pittas, Andersson
IFK Goteborg possible starting lineup:
Bishesari; Santos, Svensson, Carlen, Ohlsson; Yalcouye, Kahed, Thordarson; Pettersson, Carlstrand, Abraham
We say: AIK Fotboll 1-1 IFK Goteborg
Due to the numerous absentees on both sides it is fair to say that Monday's clash might not feature the most fluid football either team is capable of producing.
AIK could be low on confidence having lost their previous three matches, but Goteborg are yet to win back-to-back fixtures this season, and it is likely that their upcoming game will be a closely-fought contest.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Lewis Nolan
