Värnamo v Malmö FF

• Malmö turned a bit of a corner at the weekend, beating Degerfors 4-1 away from home and looking more cohesive

• Varnamo have conceded an average of 2.12 goals per match, letting in 3+ goals in three of their eight games

• Since Värnamo’s arrival to the top tier, Malmö are unbeaten in six matches against them (three wins, three draws)

A match-up between two sides who have both started the season in a disappointing way, although they find themselves in vastly different positions. Värnamo are winless and have a single point to date, sitting dead last in Allsvenskan, with Malmö having collected 14 points in eight matches and lie in 5th.

Malmö are, as expected, clear favourites here at 1.44, with Värnamo priced at 5.50 to win on their home turf. The 2.5 goal lines are almost identical, priced at 1.87 for the over and 1.90 for the under, somewhat surprisingly considering the home team’s propensity for high-scoring games. 

⭐ Värnamo v Malmö FF Predictions and Best Bets

Pre-season title favourites Malmö have had their fair share of troubles, but turned a bit of a corner at the weekend, beating Degerfors 4-1 away from home and looking more cohesive. They come up against arguably the worst team in the division and should simply be too strong to contain, making the away win at 1.47 too good to pass up.

A combination of the two above bets, Malmö to win and over 1.5 goals, has very attractive odds at 1.80. Considering the recent form of both sides, that is much too high in my eyes.

⚪ Värnamo’s Continued Misery

IFK Värnamo had a tough winter, failing to replace their departing players adequately, now severely lacking in cutting edge. They have endured the worst start in modern Allsvenskan history, losing the first seven and finally gaining their first point at the weekend, drawing 1-1 with GAIS. The run of games hasn’t been too unkind, either, facing the likes of Sirius (13th), Degerfors (9th) and Halmstad (12th).

While the attacking sharpness has been lacking, scoring eight goals from 9.4 xG, the leaky defence is the bigger issue. They have conceded an average of 2.12 goals per match, letting in three or more goals in three of their eight games.

With a new manager in place, they will be looking for rapid improvement. Easier said than done, however, already sitting eight points off safety in 13th.

🔵 Malmö Inconsistent Title Defence

The champions sit 5th in the league, six points behind AIK in top spot. Being huge favourites to retain the title, their form has been inconsistent to date, only winning four of eight matches, drawing and losing two each.

Injuries haven’t helped and a whole host of starters will be missing here again, but they have the strength in depth to cope better than any other Allsvenskan side.

Malmö’s underlying stats are quite impressive overall, having the third-most possession in Allsvenskan at 59.1%, while creating the second-highest xG in total with 13.3.

📊 Värnamo v Malmö FF Head-to-Head Key Stats

This is the first meeting of the season between these two. Last year Värnamo surprisingly managed to walk away with a point in Malmö, while they lost 4-0 to the eventual champions at home. 

Since Värnamo’s arrival to the top tier in 2022, Malmö have won three of their six matchups, with the remainder ending in draws. Three of the last four have however gone in Malmö’s favour, with a goal difference of 11-3 over this period.

Football Predictions at Andy's Bet Club

Andy's Bet Club is packed full of Expert Football Tips, such as our European Football Tips. We also have an easy-to-use Bet Builder Stats tool to help you conduct your own research. Look out for the latest Espanyol v Barcelona Betting Stats, as well as Gem Bets.

Across Thursday's footballing action, we'll be offering Charlton v Wycombe Betting Predictions and Charlton v Wycombe Bet Builder Tips, as well as a Goals Algorithm Acca.

To back the tips in this preview, you'll need a Paddy Power or Betfair account. Check out the Paddy Power Sign Up Offer and Betfair Sign Up Offer to grab some free bets. There's a list of New Bookmaker Offers here. We also have a list of the best May Free Bets and Sign Up Offers.

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

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.