2024-10-04 01:06:58
In the second round of the Europa League, Qarabag and Malmo will compete in a head-to-head match for the first points.
İdman.biz presents an article from the Russian website soccer365.ru about the odds for the match.
“In the home game, the “horses” need to score points: “Malmo” is an opponent that should be tough for Gurban Gurbanov’s team, which traditionally plays well against Scandinavian clubs. In the match at the sold-out Tofik Bahramov, fans will only expect victory from Qarabag.”
The author talks about the problems in the host team:
“In the game against Sabah, Matheus Silva was replaced midway through the second half due to injury, and as it turned out, the injury was serious enough to exclude Silva from participating in the Europa League match. Gurban Gurbanov now has difficulties with the right flank of defense: Marko Vesovic, who also plays in this position, is still injured and will not be able to help the team in the confrontation with Malmo.”
The fact that Qarabag stopped scoring in European Cup matches also did not go unnoticed:
“The usually very dangerous and effective attack of “Qarabag” in the last European Cup matches began to falter. The last time Gurban Gurbanov’s team scored goals in European tournaments was on August 13 – then they scored seven goals against Ludogorets, but this seems to have exhausted their performance limits. In the next three matches, the “horses” forwards did not know success in the Champions League and Europa League games: neither in two meetings with Dinamo Zagreb, nor in the game against Tottenham, the team players were never able to score. At the same time, “Qarabag” cannot be called a passive attack: the Agdam team had enough chances in all three matches.”
Malmö’s stability in the domestic championship is noted, but its performance in European competition is extremely weak:
“Malmo lost to Rangers in the first round and so far in the Europa League, just like Qarabag, without points. In the Swedish Championship, Henrik Rydström’s team is holding quite confidently: first place after 25 rounds and a ten-point lead over its closest pursuer, and last weekend they won another victory in Alsvenskan. In European matches, however, Malmö have lost their last three matches and have only won once in their last six games.”
The author talks about the possible arrangement of the Swedes:
“In the last two European Cup matches, Rydström chose a 3-4-3 formation, and this did not bring success to Malmö: the defense did not become more reliable, and nothing could be created ahead in the matches against Sparta and Rangers. Probably, for the game against Qarabag, the head coach of the sky blues will return to the 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 formation in order to ensure at least greater reliability in defense, since little was working ahead in any case . The problem, however, is also the absence of two left wingers at once, the loss of which weakened the attack: Hakshabanovic and Holmqvist, who dropped out until the end of the season, became a very big loss for Malmö.”
The article analyzes the results of the Swedes both in attack and defense:
“In the Allsvenskan, Malmö are by far the most successful team with 59 goals scored in 25 matches, but in recent European matches their attack has not been so successful. Henrik Rydström’s men have been unable to score for three games in a row. At the same time, problems with performance also appeared in the championship matches: for two rounds in a row, Malmö could not score in the league games against AIK and GAIS. At the same time, Malmö concedes few goals in the championship – they kept a clean sheet in the last five matches, but in this European Cup season they have never been able to keep the goal intact.”
Based on the above, the author comes to the following conclusion:
“Karabakh will have an advantage in a head-to-head match: the “horses” play very confidently at home, and their statistics in matches with Scandinavian clubs are quite good. True, Gurban Gurbanov is worried about the personnel losses that have affected the right flank of defense, but it will be difficult for Malmö to take advantage of this: two players on the left flank of the sky blue attack are also injured. On the other hand, after the last unsuccessful matches, there is serious pressure on Qarabag, but it can also become a motivation for the team to break the unsuccessful streak.
Prediction for the match: 2:0
İdman.biz