AIK Fotboll welcome Elfsborg to the Stockholm municipality of Solna for an Allsvenskan clash at the Friends Arena this Sunday.

Remarkably, the hosts find themselves slightly cut adrift in the relegation zone in the early stage of the season despite being one of the leading clubs in Swedish football.

Match preview

A barely comprehensible start to the league campaign sees AIK deep in the relegation zone with just seven points won from their opening 11 league games.

For a club that has finished outside the top five just once since 2010, sitting four points adrift of safety with the midway point approaching is scarcely believable for any followers of the Swedish game.

Andreas Brannstrom is on borrowed time, with their only win so far this season coming against Hammarby back in early April.

A run of eight games without a win has ensued, with the streak continuing due to a draw with Kalmar last week.

AIK's big overhaul of players during pre-season has evidently been to the side's detriment, and the club will hope there is no repeat of last season when another big club, Helsingborg, were relegated from the top flight, and now find themselves in the second-tier relegation zone.

There are no such worries for Elfsborg, who are currently battling at the summit of the Allsvenskan.

However, last weekend's action will have knocked them slightly, as Malmo regained top spot in the standings.

Elfsborg's 1-1 draw with Djurgardens combined with Malmo's 5-0 thrashing of a very poor Degerfors side means the Yellow Ones have slipped to second place.

That draw ended an eight-game winning run which had seen Elfsborg comfortably dispatch Malmo 3-0 just the week previously.

The winning streak was much needed as Elfsborg started the season really poorly, losing at home to Hacken before being held by Varberg, who are now bottom with just five points.

Last season's disappointing campaign which saw them finish sixth means no European qualifiers on the horizon over the summer.

However, with no distractions on the continent, Elfsborg and Malmo will fancy themselves as title favourites by being able to focus purely on domestic matters as opposed to champions Hacken, who will enter the Champions League qualifiers next month.

Team News

After ill discipline overshadowed their defeat to Djurgardens, AIK will remain without Axel Bjornstrom and Erick Otieno, who were sent off in that fixture two weeks ago.

A yellow card against Kalmar for Bilal Hussein also means that he will join the pair by serving a suspension for this encounter, with John Guidetti and Viktor Fischer also missing in attack with minor injuries.

Alexander Milosevic has yet to return from the blow to the head that forced him off inside 13 minutes of their defeat to Degerfors three weeks ago, with the defender expected to remain out.

Elfsborg will be without midfield duo Emmanuel Boateng and Alexander Bernhardsson, as both are currently nursing thigh injuries.

The long-serving Per Frick will also be sidelined again for this one as the 31-year-old continues his recovery from a thigh issue.

Jacob Ondrejka has been the star of the show so far for Elfsborg during this campaign, scoring six and setting up another four - only three players in the Allsvenskan have contributed to more goals.

AIK Fotboll possible starting lineup:
Nordfeldt; Modesto, Tihi, Papagiannopoulos, Haliti; Thill, Keita, Durmaz; Magashy, Faraj, Ayari

Elfsborg possible starting lineup:
Valdimarsson; Larsson, Holmen, Lagerbielke, Hult; Qasem, Baidoo, Romer; Okkels, Gudjohnsen, Ondrejka

We say: AIK Fotboll 0-3 Elfsborg

Elfsborg have recorded 5-0 and 6-1 wins already this season against Brommapojkarna and Halmstad respectively, and given AIK's current perilous position, another could be on the cards.

Their run of eight wins and two draws from the last 10 will strike fear into an AIK side who are winless in eight and struggling to score goals.


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