We have reached the playoff round of the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League and there are plenty of fixtures to look forward to on Thursday night. One of which takes place at the Eleda Stadion as Malmo welcome Granada to Sweden.
As opposed to regular Europa League seasons, this year the playoff round will be contested over one match rather than two legs. This gives Malmo an advantage as they have been drawn at home for this tie. The Swedish club come into the match having defeated Häcken 3-0 at home in the Allsvenskan on the weekend. That result means they are 8 points clear at the top of the table and in a strong position to win the Swedish title.
Nu börjar vi ladda upp inför torsdagens match mot Granada CF. Säkra din plats redan idag.— Malmö FF (@Malmo_FF) September 28, 2020
Nu börjar vi ladda upp inför torsdagens match mot Granada CF. Säkra din plats redan idag.
Malmo were forced to begin their Europa League campaign in the first qualifying round and they defeated Cracovia 2-0 at home. Into the second qualifying round and this time Malmo were drawn away from home, defeating Budapest Honvéd 2-0. Malmo were back at home for the third qualifying round and they had little trouble in defeating NK Lokomotiva, brushing aside the Croatian team to win the match 5-0.
Malmo have a great record at home and they are undefeated in their last 16 home games in all competitions. You must go back to the Round of 16 in the Europa League last season to find the last time they lost at the Eleda Stadion. Their Europa League record at home is strong and Malmo have won 8 of their last 10 home games in the competition, losing only one.
Granada did well to finish in 7th place in the Spanish La Liga last season and in doing so they qualified for the Europa League second qualifying round. They were drawn away against Albanian club Teuta Durrës and won the match comfortably 4-0. Into the third qualifying round and Granada were drawn at home against Lokomotivi Tbilisi of Georgia. It proved an uncomfortable game for Granada but two goals in the second half were enough to win the match.
Granada started their domestic campaign on the weekend and suffered an extremely disappointing 6-1 loss at Atletico Madrid. Having gone in at half time losing 1-0, Granada conceded 5 goals in the second half.
This season is the first time in the history of the club that Granada are playing in European football.
Team news and Malmo are without two goalkeepers as Dusan Melicharek and Johan Dahlin are injured. Anders Christiansen is a doubt due to a calf injury.
Granada travel without the injured duo of Quini and Neyder Lozano.
Malmo have a good record at home in the Europa League and will believe they have what it takes to win this game. It should be a close game, with limited goal scoring opportunities and the hosts coming out on top by keeping a clean sheet.