Malmö FF vs Vikingur Reykjavik Preview 05/07/2022

Malmö FF vs Vikingur Reykjavik – 05/07/2022

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The primary qualifying spherical for the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League will get underway this week. On Tuesday, Swedish aspect Malmo FF host Icelandic membership Vikingur Reykjavik.

Vikingur have been pressured to come back by the preliminary qualifying spherical, regardless of successful the Icelandic top-flight title final season.

As for Malmo, they enter the event within the first qualifying spherical after securing the Allsvenskan trophy in 2021.

Malmo head into the primary leg on the again of a 2-1 defeat to GIF Sundsvall, regardless of racking up 78% possession and 37 photographs – 18 of which have been on the right track.

In consequence, the defending champions discover themselves outdoors the group of early frontrunners in Sweden’s prime tier.

Malmo have received six of their 13 Allsvenskan video games this yr, registering three attracts and 4 losses alongside the best way.

Nevertheless, they’ve solely managed to attain 14 objectives within the course of – which means they’ve one of many worst offensive information within the prime half.

It’s value noting that Malmo have a wealthy historical past in Europe, having reached the ultimate of the 1979 European Cup.

On the flip aspect, Vikingur Reykjavik have by no means performed within the Champions League. Additionally they did not qualify for the Europa League in 2015-16 and 2020-21.

That mentioned, the Icelandic membership will fancy their possibilities of getting by this yr’s qualifying part and ruffling some feathers.

Throughout the preliminary spherical, Vikingur thrashed Estonian aspect FCI Levadia earlier than beating Andorran membership Inter Membership d’Escaldes to advance.

Vikingur come into this conflict on the again of a simple 3-0 victory over KR Reykjavik, shifting six factors away from the cross-city rivals within the course of.

Consequently, they discover themselves second within the Icelandic prime tier – having received seven of their 11 league outings this time period.

Head-to-head: This would be the first assembly between Malmo and Vikingur, which means we now have no earlier outcomes to evaluate for this matchup.

Group information: Malmo might be with out the injured trio of Jonas Knudsen, Adi Nalic and Anders Christiansen for the primary leg.

In the meantime, Vikingur might be with out Arnor Borg Gudjohnsen because the 21-year-old ahead continues to get better from ankle surgical procedure.

That is destined to be a close-fought battle between two evenly matched groups. Nevertheless, Vikingur ought to have sufficient high quality to come back out on prime.

Forebet predicts that Vikingur will declare a low-scoring victory over Malmo, holding a clear sheet within the course of.