Preview: Malmo vs Rigas Futbola Skola - prediction, team news, lineups

Malmo FF will be looking to secure their spot in the third qualifying round of the Champions League when they welcome Rigas Futbola Skola to the Eleda Stadion this Wednesday night.

The Swedish outfit take a three-goal lead into the second leg following a dominant performance away in Latvia last week.

Match preview

Malmo are enjoying a summer for the ages, with the club heading into Wednesday’s match in red-hot form both on and off the field.

Himmelsblatt are unbeaten in nine games across all competitions and have won their last six in a row, including a 4-1 demolition of RFS in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier.

Otto Rosengren, Pontus Jansson, Sead Haksabanovic, and Lasse Berg Johnsen all stamped their names on the scoresheet as Malmo took a huge step towards the next qualifying round.

The Swedish giants have not reached the main draw of the competition since their group stage appearance five years ago.

What’s more, their Europa League run last season was a major disappointment, with the club picking up five measly points from their eight league phase matches.

RFS picked up the same number of points in that very same Europa League campaign, but that is where the similarities end.

Last week’s opening leg in Riga underlined a huge gap in quality between the two clubs, with the Swedish outfit dominating in every area on the field.

RFS face near insurmountable odds as they look to turn things around away in Malmo, though the Latvian champions will be looking to give a good account of themselves.

Viktors Morozs and his men have never made it past this stage in the Champions League, with their last such appearance ending in a 7-1 aggregate loss to Norway’s Bodo/Glimt.

Despite the immense task ahead of them, RFS will be buoyed by their 6-2 victory in the league over the weekend. The Latvian club have scored 10 goals across their last two league matches, which proves they can pose an attacking threat.

Malmo Champions League form:

W W W

Malmo form (all competitions):

W W W W W W

Rigas Futbola Skola Champions League form:

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Rigas Futbola Skola form (all competitions):

W W W W L W

Team News

Malmo’s Arnor Sigurdsson has faced recent criticism from the Swedish media following a string of inconsistent performances, which has not been helped by his limited time on the field. However, with the Sky Blues enjoying a considerable aggregate lead, the 26-year-old is likely to finally get some serious minutes under his belt.

When it comes to absentees, Malmo could be without Lasse Berg Johnsen and Johan Karlsson, with both men set to face late fitness tests.

RFS have no fresh injury problems, meaning they can send their strongest side over to Sweden.

Influential midfielder Stefan Panic has been a standout performer for the Latvian side in recent games and is one of their key men to watch.

New signing Davis Ikaunieks has made a decent start to life in Riga and is expected to lead the attack alongside Serbia’s Darko Lemajic, who bagged a hat-trick and an assist over the weekend.

Malmo possible starting lineup: Olsen; Busanello, Djuric, Jansson, Rosler; Bolin, Rosengren, Berg, Stryger; Sigurdsson, Ali

Rigas Futbola Skola possible starting lineup: Steinbors; Sorokin, Lipuscek, Zjuzins, Simkovic; Panic, Regza, Solovjovs; Emerson, Ikaunieks, Lemajic