The home side played their biggest game in recent history on Thursday, taking on Chelsea in the UEFA Conference League semi-finals. Unfortunately, it ended in a 4-1 defeat, creating a few decent opportunities but lacking sharpness in front of goal, while making mistakes in their own box. 

Domestically it was a relief for the blue side of Stockholm to finally get another win under their belt, beating Öster 1-0 in their most recent league game last Thursday. There are still question marks regarding the attacking play and their lack of a prolific striker, the only goal being put into his own net by Adolfsson late in the game.

AIK continue to produce results, getting the business done early this time versus Elfsborg. They were 2-0 up after 19 minutes with John Guidetti leading the way, providing an assist as well as scoring the second one himself. They have been incredibly solid defensively while getting enough goals at the other end to win matches, showing a solidity and determination to find the winning goal. That now makes it five wins in the first six matches, being one of only two unbeaten teams remaining, two points ahead Mjällby in second.

Djurgården, in particular, have been low-scoring this year, only seeing a total of five goals in six matches. AIK have also seen less than 2.5 goals in four of six.

Norrköping have been a riveting watch to date, taking the game to their opponents while being frail defensively. It always looks like their games can go either way depending on which team scores first, and last weekend away to Värnamo, Norrköping managed to go two goals up in the first 33 minutes. Sebastian Jørgensen, on loan from champions Malmö, got both, proving a shrewd addition to an already potent attacking line-up. Totte Nyman of course got in on the act, taking his tally this season to six league goals. While Värnamo had their fair share of opportunities, having more shots in total and a similar xG figure, the quality in attack shone through for Norrköping.

Häcken looked a different team altogether last Sunday, being the better side in an encounter with title aspirants Hammarby which finished 1-1. Hammarby scored at the death and had quite a few shots in the game, however Häcken was the team with more incision and intentional play, getting the better chances overall. There are still a number of injuries, especially defensively, and the backline looks likely to concede in every game they play, having let in 12 goals to date.

Two potent attacking teams with two clean sheets between them in Allsvenskan, we can expect goals here.

Mjällby come into this match in the best possible form. Having recorded four wins on the trot and without a loss all season, they extended their impressive run with a dominant performance against Degerfors last weekend, putting the visitors to the sword early and eventually running away with the game, ending in a 4-1 result. Abdoulie Manneh, a real revelation early this year, has already equalled his goal tally from all of 2024, sitting on five goals in six matches. He walked away with the match ball, bagging a hat-trick in 52 minutes. The only small worry for Mjällby is the injury to key midfielder Røjkjær, and although he is back in training, remains a doubt for this encounter.

IFK Göteborg have themselves been quietly impressive, taking up a place in the top six and having their best start to the season in some time. A derby draw versus GAIS on Monday was a just result, with neither team really taking control of the game or creating enough to deserve a win. They have become much more solid as a unit, defending ruggedly and with the weight of Max Fenger up front, many teams will struggle to contain them.

It hasn’t been a kind start to the season for Östers, losing all but one match and sitting second-bottom in the league. While they’ve had a difficult run, facing the likes of AIK, Djurgården and Malmö of late, the lack of goalscoring is a real worry. Managing to limit these teams to one or two goals per match is acceptable, but they need to find ways to break down opponents rather than just relying on set pieces in order to have a chance of staying up. To date, they have the second-lowest xG in the division (5.4) while conceding plenty more chances than they create (9.2).

While Hammarby have largely been impressive early on, they again failed to overcome strugglers Häcken away from home, a run that stretches 20 years. Their opponents were there for the taking, having conceded aplenty this season with defensive injuries all-round, but Hammarby’s performance was lacklustre. There seems to be a psychological block in place, but we can expect Bajen to get back to their best against one of the worst teams in the division. They remain in the top three, with three points up to league leaders AIK, and have been arguably the best attacking team overall, creating a total of 10.3 xG.