Malmö v Häcken

• Häcken just beat Malmö on penalties in the Swedish Cup final

• Malmö have not scored for three consecutive matches

• Neither team is in great form, both winning just one in their last five

These two just met in the Swedish Cup final in midweek, a closely contested and feisty goalless draw which went to penalties. The imperious Etrit Berisha, in goal for Häcken, saved two penalties and scored his own to become the match hero, claiming the club’s second cup title in the last three years.

Malmö had the lion's share of possession and pressed hard but rarely managed to create dangerous chances, as has often been the case recently. They only have one win in the last five matches in all competitions, sitting in 5th position, Häcken trailing them by four points in 7th.

Despite this, Malmö are huge favourites here, Betfair giving 1.44 for a home win, 3.4 for a draw and a massive 5.0 for Häcken to win.

⭐ Malmö v Häcken Predictions and Best Bets

Both teams will struggle with fatigue, playing this match only three games after 120 minutes in the cup final. Malmö clearly have the deeper squad but saw captain Anders Christiansen come off injured.

The odds for an away result are much too high considering the form of both teams and how resilient Häcken were in the cup final. The alternative handicap of +2 for Häcken at 1.5 is hugely attractive, as is the +1 handicap at 2.4. Either or both can be taken depending on your preferred level of risk.

With Malmö’s struggles in front of goal, it would be very surprising to see a high-scoring encounter here, Häcken likely to again sit deep and play on the counter. As such, under 3.5 goals at 1.53 is a sharp bet.

🔵 Malmö Licking Their Wounds

The way the season has been going, it was unsurprising to witness Malmö’s offensive struggles in the Swedish Cup final. They got to plenty of promising positions but lacked sharpness in their final actions, rarely threatening Häcken’s goal.

Too many players are out of form, and with no one to put away chances, things are unlikely to change. Malmö have only picked up only eight points in the last five Allsvenskan matches, and with the cup final included, have won only two in six.

Their home form isn’t overly strong either, winning three, drawing two and losing one in the league. Having created the second-most xG in the league with 19.9, while only scoring 16, their goalscoring is a real issue. In actuality, things could be worse, too, as they have only conceded 10 goals from 14.4 xG, giving up too many dangerous chances in transition.

🟡 Häcken Newly Crowned Cup Champions

While Häcken have had a difficult start to the year, the cup title can really kickstart their season. They are still struggling with a host of injuries but such a victory over a giant like Malmö will help raise the spirits massively.

Slowly but surely, they have started picking up important points in the league too, drawing with Djurgården (9th) and AIK (2nd) recently while beating Värnamo (16th) and Norrköping (10th), with their only loss in the last five games coming against Sirius (14th) by a 2-0 scoreline. 

They have managed to restrict opponents somewhat, only seeing over 2.5 goals in one of those five most recent league games, conceding six goals in five games while scoring eight.

📊 Malmö v Häcken Head-to-Head Key Stats

The cup final was tight and intense, Malmö dominating the territory and creating more, having a total of 13 shots to Häcken’s nine. Berisha in the Häcken goal showed his value, saving all of Malmö’s six shots on target, while Häcken only had two.

Except for Malmö’s 4-0 thrashing of Häcken towards the end of last season, the Gothenburg side have actually been very difficult to beat for the champions. In their last eight meetings, that win last season was the only one, with Häcken grabbing three victories and another four draws in the head-to-heads.

Football Predictions at Andy's Bet Club

Andy's Bet Club is packed full of Expert Football Tips, such as our Swedish Allsvenskan Accumulator Tips. We also have an easy-to-use Bet Builder Stats tool to help you conduct your own research. Look out for the latest Gem Bets and Club World Cup Predictions on ABC this week.

For Sunday's slate, we also have a Cross-League Super Acca, Both Teams to Score Predictions, and a Norwegian Eliteserien Acca, as well as Quick Preview coverage for Haugesund v Bodo Glimt, Inter Miami v Columbus Crew, and Spezia v Cremonese.

When backing our tips, you'll want to be doing so on the Top Bet Builder Sites and Best UK Sports Betting Sites. We also track the best offers, such as the Paddy Power Sign Up Offer and Betfair Sign Up Offer.

* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.