In the second round of league fixtures after the mid-season break, Sirius will welcome GAIS to Studenternas IP on Saturday.
A draw on their return to action last weekend saw the visitors drop to sixth spot in the Allsvenskan table, while their visitors fell to 11th place following a defeat to Mjallby.
Match preview
Sirius head into the weekend aiming to get back to winning ways in the Swedish Allsvenskan and extend their lead over the relegation zone, having dropped into the bottom six on their return from the mid-season break last time out.
Following an eighth-placed finish in 2023, the Blasvart endured a tough start to the new term, earning just 12 points from their first 11 outings including a five-game winless streak across April and May, but they were then able to head into the break on a positive note, picking up a fourth league win of the season in style.
Christer Mattiasson's side hosted Norrkoping and dished out a 5-1 beating, with Marcus Lindberg and Yousef Salech netting braces alongside a Noel Milleskog goal, but they were unable to pick up where they left off on the return from the break last weekend.
Aiming to make it back-to-back victories to move further clear of the relegation zone, the Blasvart visited third-placed Mjallby on Saturday and fell short in agonising fashion, going ahead through Leo Walta and pulling back level at two goals apiece in the 84th minute through Filip Olsson, only for Adam Stahl to snatch all three points for the hosts by converting a penalty in the seventh minute of injury time.
Left wounded by that defeat and having dropped to 11th spot in the Swedish top flight as a result, Sirius now sit just two points above the relegation playoff place and four ahead of the bottom two, and they will be desperate to bounce back and extend that cushion on Saturday.
They face another tough test, though, as the visitors arrive with the aim of breaking back into the top four at the weekend in what has been an eye-catching start to life back in the Allsvenskan.
GAIS' promotion last year marked the end of a 12-year wait for a return to Sweden's top tier, and they have adjusted seamlessly thus far, moving onto 22 points from 11 games with back-to-back victories over ELfsborg and Hacken in May, but they were unable to make it three on the bounce heading into the mid-season break.
Indeed, Fredrik Holmberg's side saw their momentum halted in a 4-0 beating away at Halmstad, and they were unable to make an instant return to winning ways on their return at the weekend, instead settling for a share of the points in a goalless stalemate with Hammarby, their first league draw of the campaign.
Still with plenty of positives to take from their campaign thus far, and sitting sixth while only trailing fourth-placed Hacken by a single point and third-placed Mjallby by four, GAIS will look to quickly strengthen their position among the frontrunners once again with an eighth victory of the Allsvenskan season on Saturday.
Team News
Sirius continue to deal with several injury issues heading into the weekend, with defender Tobias Carlsson and key attacker Joakim Persson both set to remain confined to the treatment room.
Filip Olsson is a fresh concern too, having come on to score their second goal against Mjallby last time out, only to see his substitute appearance cut short.
Yousef Salech is bound to lead the line again, having already notched up nine goals in 13 Allsvenskan appearances so far this term, while Noel Milleskog and Marcus Lindberg are danger men in support and will continue to operate ahead of the midfield pairing of Daniel Stensson and Leo Walta.
GAIS are again unable to call on Nigerian forward Richard Friday, who is yet to feature this season due to a long-term injury, while Jack Cooper-Love, who has notched up four goals in nine league games this term, also missed their first game back from the break last time out.
Fredrik Holmberg may opt to deploy an unchanged starting XI from last weekend's draw with Hammarby, with August Wangberg, Axel Noren, Anes Cardaklija and Robin Frej bound to line up in a back four again after their clean sheet in that game.
If Cooper-Love remains sidelined, Alexander Ahl Holmstrom and Lucas Hedlund will compete to lead the attack, while Harun Ibrahim will fight to come back into the midfield from the start after Joackim Aberg was preferred alongside Axel Henriksson and William Milovanovic last time out.
Sirius possible starting lineup:
Tannander; Nwadike, Murbeck, Jeng, Widgren; Stensson; Walta, Lindberg, Milleskog, Heier; Salech
GAIS possible starting lineup:
Krasniqi; Wangberg, Noren, Cardaklija, Frej; Henriksson, Milovanovic, Ibrahim; Lundgren, Hedlund, Celik
We say: Sirius 1-2 GAIS
Both sides will be keen to bounce back to winning ways in Saturday's meeting, and we predict a close encounter.
With the chance to rejoin the leading pack and having shown their quality on their return to the Allsvenskan, we back GAIS to pick up another impressive result on their travels.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
