Both teams have had their fair share of struggles this year, however, the expectations and circumstances are vastly different at the two clubs. 

Öster’s return to Allsvenskan has been a struggle since the start of the season and there aren’t many signs to suggest an uptick in form. They have only managed three wins in 15 matches and have failed to win in their last four, now losing two in a row without scoring a goal. After being competitive and creating dangerous chances against league leaders Mjällby, before eventually losing 1-0, Brommapojkarna got the better of them and rightly won 2-0. 

The Öster attack has really struggled to date, being able to get hold of possession well enough but rarely finding the right time to get the ball into the final third and lacking in creativity. They are overly reliant on set pieces but create little from open play, having scored the lowest number of goals in the league to date (12) from the lowest xG (13.7). Defensively they are somewhat better but have still conceded 21 goals from 22.9 xG, better than other relegation candidates but certainly not good enough considering their attacking woes.

They have just lost key midfielder David Seger and while the attacking recruitments of Patriot Sejdiu, Joel Voelkering Persson and Oscar Uddenäs are shrewd, they likely won’t be enough to turn around Öster’s fortunes unless midfield reinforcements are added.

Malmö’s struggles have been well documented, not living up to their expectations as champions and huge pre-season favourites, only winning seven of 16 matches and finding themselves in 5th place. Last weekend’s 3-1 win over Norrköping was a step in the right direction, especially considering star signing Sead Haksabanovic netted his first goal for the club after a tough time in the last year. Hugo Bolin also got back on the scoresheet, and combined with the return to form of Taha Ali, they could finally be trending upwards as a team. 

Sharpness in front of goal has been missing, but three consecutive 3-1 victories (including the two European qualification wins over Iberia 1999) is a sign of positive change. They still lack a goalscoring striker, something which should be rectified in this transfer window, however they are still likely to have too much for Öster here.

Spartans’ price to defeat Brechin this weekend was one that immediately stood out for me upon first glance at Saturday’s Scottish League Cup fixtures. The capital club caused a mini upset last weekend by kicking off their campaign with a 2-1 win over Scottish Championship outfit Queen’s Park. While Dougie Samuel’s side have since fallen to a 1-0 defeat at Cove Rangers, a home game with Brechin looks like a perfect opportunity to keep their qualification hopes alive. 

I was at Glebe Park last Saturday to watch Falkirk take on Brechin, with the Bairns running out resounding 7-0 winners, and truth be told, it could easily have been double figures. Ray McKinnon’s men have since found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-0 hammering from Queen’s Park on Tuesday night, so confidence is bound to be low in the visiting camp this weekend. 

While Spartans are clearly inferior opposition to what Brechin have faced so far, I suspect the hosts will prove too strong for their Highland League guests. Samuel’s side finished a respectable 5th in Scottish League Two last season and they have several players who could quite easily be operating at a higher level.

Ross County’s 1-1 draw with Stranraer last weekend was a major coupon buster and Saturday’s trip to Queen of the South represents an even bigger banana skin. The hosts hit the ground running on Tuesday night with a 4-0 win over Edinburgh City, so they should be in confident mood ahead of this weekend’s showdown with County. 

While I’m not prepared to side with a Queen of the South success here, I’m more than happy to back them to score at least once. The Doonhamers tend to do damage in front of their own supporters, evidenced by the fact that they scored in 16 of their 18 Scottish League One home games last season. It’s also worth pointing out that Peter Murphy's men made the net bulge when hosting St Mirren in last season’s Scottish Cup.

Ross County’s stumble last weekend would suggest that they could be suffering from a relegation hangover, not to mention they are still in the process of reshaping their squad. The new-look Staggies won't have things easy on the plastic surface at what is a tight and compact Palmerston Park. Thus, Queen of the South look well placed to get on the scoresheet.

Two teams in poor form meet each other where Molde are the clear favourite to prevail. The home side have massively underachieved this season and find themselves as low as 13th with eight defeats out of 14. They have lost three straight home games and inexplicably blew a 2-0 lead away to Fredrikstad last week with 10 mins left, somehow losing 2-4. From a defensive perspective Molde are in terrible form conceding 10 goals in four games. They may have to lean on their offence here, even against a team such as Stromsgodset. 

The visitors travel here inside the relegation zone and on a shocking run of eight consecutive defeats. New manager Dag Eilev Fagermo has now been in charge for three games and at least last week there were some encouraging signs. They came from 0-2 down vs Tromso to draw level 2-2, only before losing late (2-3). To show the fightback to get back into the game must be seen as a positive. Stromsgodset have a terrible xGA of 1.91 per game which is the third worst in the league.

Molde needs to win this game and Godset have to start getting more points. That could lead to an open fixture and backing over 2.5 goals at 1.44 makes sense, especially considering how poor each respective defence has been.

An interesting encounter between the team in worst form currently and a rampant visitor.

Degerfors went from bad to worse last weekend, shipping another three goals and suffering their sixth consecutive defeat. It was a difficult start to his Degerfors career for new manager Henok Goitom, coming up against his title-chasing prior club.

AIK didn’t create a huge amount, but Degerfors just can’t keep teams out at the moment, independent of their set-up or strategy. They have now conceded 2.83 goals per game in the run of defeats while only scoring an average of 0.5 goals per game, rarely threatening for more than short spurts.

They have accumulated a relatively high xG overall due to their strong league start, but their expected goals against is hugely concerning, racking up 1.58 xGA per match. Not much points to a turnaround in fortunes, the team being short in confidence and lacking in quality in most parts of the pitch.

GAIS have been the most in-form team in Allsvenskan of late, winning four of their last five games and not losing in eight. They remain in 6th with a host of top-quality teams ahead, however they are pushing to get into the top three and remain seven points off a European spot. The 3-2 victory over Hammarby (2nd) on Sunday was hugely impressive, controlling the game against the title challengers and justly winning despite a somewhat fortuitous penalty in their favour.

Nonetheless, they had 21 shots to Hammarby’s eight, creating 2.05 xG, a decent bit more than Hammarby (1.67). They go from strength to strength, with Allsvenskan top scorer Ibrahima Diabate continuing to be red hot, now on 12 league goals for the campaign. Amin Boudri is also one of the breakthroughs of the season, a real maverick who can break teams down with his hugely entertaining dribbling, now having added a bit more end product to his game too, scoring three in his last five.

The away side are incredibly consistent and in terrific form, and the odds of 1.85 are much too high considering Degerfors’s current misery.

The big match of the day in the Eliteserien comes from Stavanger where top of the table Viking take on defending champions Bodo/Glimt. Viking have a 10 point lead on Glimt but the away side have three games in hand. The result of this match is absolutely crucial and could go a long way determining this year’s champion. In the reverse fixture, Viking sensationally came from behind to beat Glimt 4-2.

They played a very aggressive, committed and bold style that day and we should expect something similar. This should be another very offensive game considering both teams are two of the highest scoring in the league. They have the metrics to back it up averaging 2.09 and 2.07 xG per game respectively. 

In Kasper Hogh, Bodo/Glimt have arguably the best striker in the league and he’s scored nine goals in 12 Eliteserien games. Viking are spearheaded by veteran attack Zlatko Tripic who has netted seven times and also supplied several assists. This fixture has a history of high scoring games as the previous meeting this season proved.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see this affair going over 3.5 or even 4.5 but the sensible selection has to be to take over 2.5 goals at 1.44.