There is hugely important top-six clash in the Swedish Allsvenskan on Thursday evening, with Norrkoping hosting Hammarby at Nya Parken.
Norrkoping currently sit third on 25 points, while Hammarby are sixth place with 20. A win for the away side would see them close the gap to just two points, but a home win would create an eight-point gulf.
Norrkoping started the season in fine form, going unbeaten in their opening eight leagues games – winning six and drawing two.
However, Jens Gustafsson’s side have now managed just one win in their last six league outings – losing three and drawing two.
A four-game winless run – which includes defeats in their previous two games – has seen Norrkoping lose pace in the title race.
Still, Norrkoping’s home record is seriously strong. Gustafsson’s men are unbeaten in their last 16 home games in the Swedish top-flight.
As for Hammarby, they only managed to win two of their opening seven league games this term. But things have picked up for the team recently.
Hammarby have only lost one of their last seven league games, with victories over Kalmar, Orebro, and most recently Djurgarden coming during that period.
Looking at the bigger picture, Stefan Billborn’s side have lost just five of their last 31 Allsvenskan games, so it’s not all doom and gloom.
It’s also worth pointing out that eight of Hammarby’s previous ten away league games have seen both teams score.
Head-to-head: Norrkoping are unbeaten in their last three meetings with Hammarby and have only lost once in the previous 16 editions of this fixture.
Hammarby’s last victory over Norrkoping came back in 2018, with the one before that coming all the way back in 2002.
It’s important to remember that seven of the previous eight meetings between these two sides have produced over 1.5 goals.
Team news: Norrkoping have no fresh injury concerns heading into Thursday’s clash, although midfielder Lars Gerson is one yellow card away from a suspension.
Hammarby will be without injured forward Loue Bayere Junior, as the 19-year-old continues to recover from knee surgery.
After a strong start to the season, Norrkoping have dropped off recently. Meanwhile, Hammarby have improved dramatically in recent weeks.
This is set to be a tight game between two evenly matched teams, so it’s difficult to foresee the outcome of this tie.
Forebet predicts that over 1.5 goals will be scored, with a draw the most likely outcome.