Swedish outfit Malmo are experienced European campaigners in both the Champions League and the Europa League. On Thursday night, the Swedish side returns to the latter, as they face a first qualifying round first leg tie against Northern Irish side Ballymena.
The home side actually made it out of the Europa League group stages last season, only to suffer a 5-1 aggregate defeat against eventual competition winners Chelsea.
Prior to two straight defeats to the Premier League outfit, Malmo were unbeaten in five games in the Europa League. Despite the unbeaten run, the Swedish side have found wins hard to come by in this competition, winning just three of their last 12 outings.
They have been tough opponents on home soil though, as they have suffered just one defeat in nine home games in the Europa League. The one defeat came against Chelsea in last season’s competition, which ended an eight-game unbeaten run at home.
The last time Malmo faced a team from Northern Ireland on home soil in the Europa League was back in 2003 when they recorded a 4-0 win over Portadown.
Ballymena do not have much of a history with the Europa League, having played just four games in the competition. Two of those games were in the preliminary rounds of this seasons competition, where the visitors saw off Faroe Islands side NSI 2-0 on aggregate.
The first leg 2-0 win on home soil is Ballymena’s only victory in their four matches in the Europa League. The game was also the only game in the competition where the visitors have managed to find the net.
Their only previous campaign in the competition in 2017 saw Ballymena suffer a 5-0 aggregate defeat against Norwegian opposition Odd in the preliminary round.
Unsurprising considering the two sides experience in this competition, Forebet are predicting a comfortable home win in a high-scoring encounter.