Preview: IFK Norrkoping vs. Hacken

Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Swedish Allsvenskan clash between IFK Norrkoping and Hacken, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Aiming to end a run of five games across all competitions without a victory, IFK Norrkoping entertain the challenge of Hacken at Platinumcars Arena on Sunday.

On the other hand, the away side make the trip this weekend seeking to bounce back having seen their three-game winning streak come to an end last time out.

Match preview

IFK Norrkoping were on the receiving end of a 2-1 defeat against AIK Fotboll in a friendly encounter between the teams on Monday afternoon.

Glen Riddersholm’s men took an early lead through Kristoffer Khazeni but were pegged back by Omar Faraj on the stroke of half time after which Bilal Hussein grabbed the winner seven minutes into the second period.

Just before that, The Comrades played out a thrilling 2-2 stalemate against Djurgarden and currently sit eighth in the Swedish Allsvenskan table.

Coming up next is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who are without defeat in the last eight editions of this fixture since 2020.

Having lost each of their last three home matches, Sunday’s hosts head into the clash eager to give their fans reason to cheer this time around.

Hacken fell to an agonising 1-0 loss against Djurgarden when the sides locked horns in a warm-up encounter at the Bravida Arena on Monday.

Oliver Berg broke the deadlock just past the hour mark and that turned out to be the all-important moment which put Per-Mathias Hogmo’s men to the sword.

This came off the back of an emphatic 3-0 victory over Mjallby which saw the Getingarna move up to third in the standings, three points off division leaders Malmo.

With the start of their Champions League qualification journey around the corner, Sunday’s visitors will be looking to set the tone with an impressive display here.

IFK Norrkoping Swedish Allsvenskan form:

Hacken Swedish Allsvenskan form:

Team News

Norrkoping’s Jean Carlos has not featured in over nine months due to a knee problem and the Brazilian is still facing an extended spell on the sidelines.

Twenty-seven-year-old Christopher Telo also misses out through injury, while Isak Ssewankambo remains without a timetable for his return to action.

Blair Turgott and Ali Youssef are guaranteed absentees for Hacken here as they continue to battle with respective long-term injury problems.

Having scored in four of his last six matches for the away side, 20-year-old Benie Traore will be looking to deliver the goods once again.

IFK Norrkoping possible starting lineup:
Jansson; Kalley, Gunnarsson, Lund, Eriksson; Ortmark, Traustason; Lind, Eid, Hammershoy-Mistrati; Gudjohnsen

Hacken possible starting lineup:
Abrahamsson; Lund, Hovland, Sandberg, Fridriksson; Rygaard, Romeo, Gustafson; Dahbo, Traore, Sonko

We say: IFK Norrkoping 1-2 Hacken

Hacken boast the best attacking record in the division and will fancy themselves to put on another superb display in front of goal. While we expect the hosts to also get on the score sheet in this one, we can see the away side coming away with all three points in the end.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data

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