IK Oddevold
- Nilsson has built this Oddevold team in his image and it has a clearly defined structure and shape that prioritises being solid in defense and building from there.
- The hosts will certainly be up for this and their pre-season form and Svenska Cupen results have shown them to be a mixed bag.
- They beat Västerås SK away from home in the Cup, which was an impressive result, but narrowly lost to AIK in a game they could have won with a little more quality in the attack.
- Eeik Hedenquist scored the winner in their Cup triumph at Västerås and has the potential to be a difference-maker in this division if Oddevold can finalize the loan signing of Emmanuel Gono from AIK, where he has been a fire starter.
Sandvikens IF
- Coskun is likely to set his men up in either a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 system, depending on the players available, but the philosophy will be similar in that he will want the full backs to bomb forward and create numerical superiority in the wide areas.
- Transitions from defense to attack should be swift and Sandvikens IF should create more opportunities to break the game open than an Oddevold side that will keep things more compact with three central defenders and wing backs to support the attack.
- They have looked good going forward in pre-season and the Cup group, but shipping multiple goals in both their recent 3-2 defeats to GAIS and Landskrona suggests they could be vulnerable at the back on Monday.
Head-to-Head
Both teams have also scored in Sandviken ’s two Cup Group stage defeats to GAIS and Landskrona.
Key Players
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Players to watch:
- Sandviken will travel south with a number of interesting players, but Johan Arvidsson brings the experience and attacking quality that Coskun can build around.
- Otto Lindell is a good goalkeeper and has played in their Cup games while both William Milovanovic and Henry Sletsjöe have contributed to their cause.
Betting Insights
- Backing both sides to score looks a safe bet at 1.7 given the stats of recent meetings between the teams, while 3.25 about the visitors to edge a close contest seems a reasonable wager.
- Over 2.5 goals looks the play here at 1.9 with both attacks expected to get on the scoreboard in a close, competitive game that the visitors should be capable of edging.
Prediction
It is Sandvikens IF who are likely to edge it because Baran Coskun ’s high-octane philosophy and attacking focus should suit the conditions and the day better than Rickard Nilsson ’s more pragmatic and defensively organised approach.
