Just a few months ago, Sivasspor won the 2022 Turkish Cup, the first major title in the club’s history. Since then, however, the Central Anatolian club has been on a downward slide. The match against Malmö FF in the play-offs of the current Europa League qualifiers is therefore not at all convenient at this point in time.
The 2022/23 season started for Sivas with two defeats and a draw. In the process, the Red and Whites have conceded a total of eight times – an average of almost three goals per game. It is quite possible that the negative trend will continue against Malmö FF. The Scandinavians have already warmed up for the upcoming home match.
Last week, Andreas Georgson’s side, who took over the Swedish record champions as an interim solution after Milojevic’s sacking, recorded a 3-1 win over Sundsvall, their sixth win in the seventh home match of the current season across the competition. In the Malmö vs. Sivasspor clash, the prediction of a home win seems promising.
If the Himmelblauen take the momentum with them into the match against Sivas, it is obvious that Malmö FF will get the next win at the Eleda Stadion in the play-offs of the EL qualification. The record against Turkish clubs is also encouraging: in six matches against Turkish teams, MFF have only lost once so far.
Malmö – Statistics & current form
Malmö FF failed miserably in the Champions League qualifiers, missing out on a place in the third round after two bitter defeats to Zalgiris Vilnius. Consequently, the board of the Swedish record champions subsequently dismissed head coach Milojevic. Under his leadership, Malmö FF also had a mediocre season in the Allsvenskan.
After 18 match days, the Himmelblauen from Malmö are only in fourth place. The gap to the top of the table is still five points, even after the win against Sundsvall. For the time being, however, the focus is on the international competition, where the Swedish record champions would at least like to make it to the group stage.
Georgson remains the interim head coach for the time being. The 36-year-old Swede has won two of his four matches in charge of Malmö so far – both in front of a home crowd, mind you. Away from home, however, there was a defeat against Sirius and a draw against F91 Düdelingen.
Will the next home win be in the cards for the Himmelblauen?
Although Georgson’s side have not made the best impression in recent weeks, a home win against their upcoming opponents from Turkey is still an obvious choice. Malmö FF have lost only two of their last 15 games at home. Overall, Malmö have a record of 12-1-2 at the Eleda Stadion this calendar year.
In five of the last six matches in front of a home crowd, there have been at least three goals per game. An offensive spectacle cannot be ruled out against Sivasspor. In any case, Malmö FF have a promising record of 4-1-1 against teams from Turkey, although it should also be noted that all six matches were against BJK. Nevertheless, in the Malmö vs. Sivasspor match, odds that are in the context of a Swedish win seem tempting.
MFF coach Georgson will have to do without a total of two players for Thursday’s match against Sivas due to injury. In addition to Nalic, who is out until the end of the season with a cruciate ligament rupture, Siby also still has to take a break. The new summer signing from Racing Strasbourg is currently still recovering from a hip injury.
Predicted line-up of Malmö:
Dahlin – Larsson, Moisander, Nielsen, Beijmo – Pena, Rakip, Zeidan – Birmancevic, Thelin, Turay
Last matches played by Malmö:
Allsvenskan
14/08/2022 – Malmö FF 3 – 1 GIF Sundsvall
Europa League Qualification
12/08/2022 – F91 Düdelingen 2 – 2 Malmö FF
Allsvenskan
07/08/2022 – Sirius 2 – 1 Malmö FF
Europa League Qualification
04/08/2022 – Malmö FF 3 – 0 F91 Düdelingen
Champions League Qualification
27/07/2022 – Malmö FF 0 – 2 Zalgiris Wilna
Sivasspor – Statistics & current form
Sivasspor missed out on a win in their third competitive match of the current season last weekend and remain in a crisis of form. The red and white team suffered a heavy defeat against the blue flashes from Adana in their away match in the south of Turkey. Sivasspor scored three times in the process.
It was the second defeat of the season for the “Yigidolar”, as the Central Anatolian club is also known. Sivas had already been swept out of the stadium with a 4-0 defeat in the Turkish Super Cup. It would therefore be more than daring to make a prediction on the visitors in Malmö vs. Sivasspor, especially in their current form.
The Red and Whites were already shown up in the play-offs of the Conference League qualification last season. They lost to FC Copenhagen last year with an aggregate score of 1:7 after the first and second legs of the Conference League play-offs. This worsened Sivasspor’s international record to 7-2-11 overall.
Is Sivasspor showing signs of defiance?
Offensively, Sivas have been harmless in their first three competitive games of the current season. It was therefore not at all surprising that they failed to score in their most recent match in Adana, especially since only one shot was fired at the goal of their league rivals. Max Gradel is currently one of the few bright spots on the offensive.
The 34-year-old Ivorian has to take on more responsibility in the offensive game after the harsh summer departures. Compared to last season, where Gradel was the best provider of assists for the Red and Whites with a total of three goals and twelve assists, the veteran has not yet been able to convince.
It therefore remains to be seen what changes head coach Riza Calimbay will dare to make in the play-offs of the EL qualifiers. With Arslan and Camara, only two players will be missing from the Red and Whites’ ranks due to injury. There are no other absentees.
Predicted line-up of Sivasspor:
Yildirim – Erdal, Appindangoye, Osmanpasa, Paluli – Yalcin, Ulvestad – Gradel, Kesgin, Yesilyurt – Yatabare
Last matches played by Sivasspor:
Süper Lig
14/08/2022 – Adana Demirspor 3 – 0 Sivasspor
06/08/2022 – Sivasspor 1 – 1 Gaziantep FK
Super Cup
31/07/2022 – Trabzonspor 4 – 0 Sivasspor
Club friendlies
25/07/2022 – Sivasspor 2 – 0 Sharjah Cultural Club
22/07/2022 – Sivasspor 1 – 1 Sigma Olomouc
Malmö – Sivasspor Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Malmö FF and Sivasspor meet for the first time ever
Malmö – Sivasspor Tip
Internationally, the Swedish record champions have far more experience to show than the guests from Turkey. Nevertheless, both teams are not in the best shape at the moment. Malmö FF have parted ways with head coach Milojevic after their false start in the Allsvenskan and their failure to qualify for the CL.
Sivasspor, on the other hand, are still in free fall after two bitter defeats in their first three competitive games. Looking back at the performances so far, there are hardly any arguments in favour of tip 2 for the upcoming play-offs between Malmö FF and Sivasspor.
In particular, Sivasspor are already doomed to failure in the first leg, so to speak. After all, Malmö have won six of their last seven home games at the Eleda Stadion. In addition, MFF have only lost one of their six matches against Turkish teams. It is quite possible that this record will be extended this time as well.
We expect a one-sided match, which will be clearly dominated by the Swedish record champions even before the break. Our betting odds for Malmö vs. Sivasspor are 2.75 on “HT/FT: 1/1”. We are using six units for this bet.
