Sunday Accumulator Tips: Europe

Another six-pointer at the top of the table – and this one could truly put SJK into a terminal spin.

After a league run which could only be described as “patchy”, KuPS have won their last two games 3-0, albeit without getting out of second gear against lower half opponents. Last week against Ilves, they were clinical, punished their opponents and also coaxed a first goal out of Jake Jervis.

With away games against Haka and HJK to come before the league splits in two weeks time, they’ll face a tougher test here. The return of Anton Popovitch after injury has added steel to the midfield, protecting the already well-drilled defence. Coach Jani Honkavaara, sacked by SJK in 2021, will relish the chance to further stick the knife into his old club.

SJK have now lost three matches in a row, the latest being a sloppy 2-3 defeat at home to KTP, as their last game in hand. It’s easy to boil it down to one player being missed, but since Ovie Ejeheri returned to Arsenal, they’ve conceded ten in five, compared to eight in 14 games prior to his exit.

His replacement, Latvian international Krisjanis Zviedris, was dropped for the KTP loss but with little extra success. Coach Joaquin Gomez was confronted by an animated fan after the game and had a frank exchange of views, but he needs to earn his money now to get their title challenge back on track after such an impressive start.

After 18 matches of the 2023 Superettan season, these two sides are separated by nine points but heading into the mid-June mid-season summer break, they were a lot closer and the expectation was that they would be relatively evenly-matched moving forward, as they were last season.

Last season, Trelleborg finished fourth in the table, three points behind the Allsvenskan/Superettan relegation/promotion play-off place, which was occupied by Osters. The hosts sit firmly in mid-table this time around and are eight points adrift of the top three.

They come into this on the back of a continuation of their inconsistent form with a 1-1 draw away to GIF Sundsvall meaning they have won one, lost one and drawn three of their last five matches – which, as expected, is very mid-table form. They have been entertaining, though, with 55 goals coming in their 18 matches so far this season.

Stefan Tugedzic’s Osters side have maintained similar form to last season, unlike Trelleborg. The visitors started the season with four successive victories before they faded towards the middle-of-the-table. Now, though, they have recovered and are fighting with GAIS, who were in the third-tier last season, for third spot.

Despite steadying the ship and generally improving, the visitors do come into this on the back of a surprise 2-1 loss at home to Gefle in their most recent outing, last week. That defeat ended a five-match unbeaten run of form.

Whilst the two teams are not as evenly matched as they were last season, Trelleborg have maintained a level of entertainment in their decline. The hosts’ 18 matches so far have consisted of 55 goals and, albeit with Osters still favourites, both teams scoring looks good value.

A tale of two majorly differing teams, with title-chasing Häcken coming into this tie as a big favourite while Sirius are struggling at the bottom end of the table trying to survive relegation.

Häcken’s campaign has not been as dominant as last season’s title win, but nonetheless, they are keeping pace with Elfsborg at the top of the table. In fact, the Gothenburg side has been the most impressive and consistent side in Allsvenskan since the resumption of the league after the month-long summer break, collecting 13 points from a possible 18. An unexpected and well-needed 3-1 win over the league leaders was followed by a solid 2-0 victory over bottom-of-the-league Varberg last weekend.

While their hopes of playing in the Champions League have been scuppered, a large aggregate win over Zalgiris in midweek has put them in a good position to reach the group stages of the Europa League, with a guarantee of at least featuring in the Conference League.

The signing of young Srdjan Hrstic looks like a masterstroke, with the young striker having scored three goals in their two Europa League qualifying matches. He still needs to prove himself domestically, but he is strong, powerful and a real poacher, and looks a big threat as well as a highly capable replacement for Benie Traore, who recently departed to Premier League outfit Sheffield United.

Sirius are in a hard-fought battle to stay in Allsvenskan and have managed to drag themselves out of the relegation zone by collecting two wins in their last five matches. While they remain inconsistent – they have five wins and eight losses in their last 13 matches and not a single draw recorded in that run – collecting three points fairly regularly goes a long way in a relegation scrap.

A strong 3-0 win last weekend against the out-of-form Kalmar, with some wasteful finishing and poor defending making the scoreline flattering, means they sit a point above the play-off spot. It should be noted their recent wins have all come against struggling sides, with better opposition able to pick their shaky defence apart.

Häcken are full of confidence with 16 goals scored in their last five matches in all competitions and will look to go top of the table with a win here. Sirius don’t seem to have the minerals to withstand the quality of the home side.

A remarkable run of nine consecutive wins has propelled Viking to the top of the Eliteserien table, level with Bodo/Glimt. Nobody expected this after 18 games played and Viking are a legitimate title challenger. They were a tough side to forecast in pre-season but overall, they appeared to lack the consistency and quality in depth to be in the mix for medals.

Recent wins against tough opponents such as Brann and Lillestrom demonstrate the steely nature of this team which must be taken seriously. They are short-priced favourites to beat a struggling Stabaek side and this is expected to be a comfortable home win.

Viking welcome back captain and key talisman Zlatko Tripic from suspension. This is a major boost because he’s their top scorer. On the flip side, defender Djibril Diop will serve a one match ban of his own.

This is one of the easiest fixtures possible for Viking to try and make it ten wins on the spin. Stabaek have been in a dire freefall which has now left them inside the relegation zone.

Things started well for Lars Bohinen’s promoted outfit with the highlight of their early season form being a shock 3-2 win away to Molde. However, things have taken a dramatic nosedive with seven defeats in their last nine and a severe goalscoring problem which has seen them blank in five of their last six contests.

Stabaek have been without big striker Kasper Waarts Hogh who is ruled out injured until September. They bought him on a permanent deal in the summer after a successful loan spell. The expectation was he might be sold on again quickly, but his injury has probably prevented that, for now.

Stabaek have lost six out of eight away games and it is difficult to see them staying close to Viking here. The gulf in class should be too vast and Viking are 1.40 straight on the nose, providing a good value selection.

The 2-0 or 3-0 score line is definitely in play here and there’s a good chance Viking win to nil based on Stabaek’s recent woes in front of goal.

Frankfurt will be confident of picking up their first three points of the season as they host Bundesliga newcomers Darmstadt.

After an average pre-season, Frankfurt returned to competitive football in style, thrashing fourth-tier side Lokomotive Leipzig 7-0 in the first round of the DFB Pokal. The scoresheet featured three new signings: Jessic Ngankam, Omar Marmoush and Junior Dina Ebimbe, the latter joining permanently following a positive loan spell last season.

The other goals were scored by Randal Kolo Muani and Mario Gotze. For now, Kolo Muani, who amassed 40 goals and assists in all competitions last season, will continue to play for Frankfurt, despite interest from some of the biggest powers in Europe. Frankfurt have lost some first team players such as Djibril Sow, Daichi Kamada and Evan Ndicka; however, new manager Dino Toppmoller will be confident that his squad is in good shape.

Darmstadt have kept faith in manager Torsten Lieberknecht, who has stuck with the vast majority of the squad that played in the second division last season. Unlike Frankfurt, Darmstadt faced embarrassment as they crashed out of the DFB Pokal against fourth-tier side Homburg, failing to score in a 3-0 defeat despite controlling possession and producing 27 shots.

Frankfurt have the quality to qualify for European football again this season and look to have recruited well; whereas the faces at Darmstadt have hardly changed from last season. The away side possess the smallest hope of causing an upset.