Aiming to extend their four-match unbeaten run, Halmstads BK welcome Varbergs BoIS to Orjans Vall on Saturday evening in round 17 of the 2023 Swedish Allsvenskan season.
Meanwhile, the away side make the journey this weekend aiming to arrest a slump in form which has seen them lose four of their last five matches across all competitions.
Match preview
Halmstad had to make do with a share of the spoils from their encounter against Goteborg at Gamla Ullevi on Sunday which ended in a goalless stalemate.
Magnus Haglund's men failed to muster enough clear-cut opportunities to find the breakthrough in what panned out to be a nervy and cagey affair.
As a result, HBK have dropped down to seventh in the Swedish Allsvenskan table, a whopping 10 points adrift of Malmo in the race for the final continental spot.
Coming up next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have been beaten in just one of the last five meetings between the teams since 2021.
However, that solitary defeat did come in the most recent edition of this fixture back in June when Saturday's hosts claimed a narrow 2-1 victory.
Varberg came away empty-handed from a second game running following a narrow 1-0 loss against Kalmar at the Guldfageln Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Despite playing large spells of the contest with a man advantage, Joakim Persson's men failed to make their numerical advantage count and were made to pay seven minutes from time as Simon Skrabb broke the deadlock.
Having amassed eight points from their 16 matches so far, Varbergs sit rock bottom in the standings, six points adrift of safety with one game in hand.
Currently on a run of just one win from 10 outings on the road leading up to Saturday, the visitors will be looking to turn their away fortunes around.
Team News
Viktor Granath has been directly involved in eight (six goals and two assists) of Halmstad's 17 goals so far, making the 29-year-old one to keep an eye on.
Malkolm Nilsson shook off a minor injury scare to retain his place between the sticks last time out, and the goalkeeper is expected to feature once again.
Varberg duo Anton Liljenback and Gideon Mensah are both sidelined through knee injuries, ruling them out of contention for Saturday's affair.
The away side will also be without the services of Oliver Alfonsi, while Marcly Tshikupe is yet to make an appearance since the final week of February.
Halmstads BK possible starting lineup:
Nilsson; Olsson, Baffo, Johansson, Ofosu-Ayeh; Naeem, Al-Ammari, Svedberg, Karlsson; Granath, Ahlstrand
Varbergs BoIS possible starting lineup:
Olsson; Zackrisson, Stanisic, Lindner; Sverrisson, Lushaku, Le Roux, Silverholt; Junior, Sainte, Krasniqi
We say: Halmstads BK 2-0 Varbergs BoIS
Varbergs have been significantly poor at both ends of the pitch, scoring the fewest number of goals in the division while also conceding the most. It is hard to see them picking up a positive result here, and we are backing Halmstads to get the job done in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
