Preview: SonderjyskE vs FC Midtjylland - prediction, team news, lineups

SonderjyskE and FC Midtjylland begin their 2026-27 Danish Superliga campaign when they meet at Haderslev Football Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The visitors head into the opening weekend on the back of a narrow 1-0 defeat to Besiktas in the first leg of their Europa League second qualifying round tie, while SonderjyskE concluded pre-season with two wins, one draw and one defeat.

Match preview

Following relegation from the Danish Superliga at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, SonderjyskE spent two seasons in the second tier before earning promotion back to the top flight in 2024.

Last season proved to be another step forward for the Haderslev outfit, as a sixth-place finish was their highest league position since returning to the Superliga and their best top-flight campaign since finishing runners-up in 2015-16.

Although they ultimately missed out on the top four and European qualification, SonderjyskE ended the season with 44 points from 32 matches and will be aiming to build on that progress this season under Fatah Abdirahman.

The club have strengthened ahead of the new campaign with the arrivals of David Boison, Berkant Bayrak, Omran Khatar and Mathias Olesen among five summer additions.

Teenage forward Boison has already caught the eye after completing a €200,000 move from FC Copenhagen, where he impressed in the UEFA Youth League, and he marked his arrival by scoring the winner in SonderjyskE's final pre-season fixture.

© Imago / Gonzales Photo

FC Midtjylland, meanwhile, enter the new season looking to go one better after finishing second in last year's Superliga, ending the campaign seven points behind champions Copenhagen.

That runners-up finish secured a place in the Europa League second qualifying round, although Mike Tullberg's side suffered a disappointing start to their European campaign with defeat in Turkey against Besiktas on Thursday.

While the result was frustrating, Midtjylland can still take confidence from an impressive pre-season in which they remained unbeaten across five matches.

The four-time Danish champions won four and drew one of those friendlies, scoring 17 goals while conceding just five, with 14 of those strikes arriving during their final three outings.

History also favours the visitors, who have won 28 of the previous 54 meetings between the clubs, although they have won just one of the previous three meeting between the sides. 

SonderjyskE  pre-season form:

FC Midtjylland Danish Superliga pre-season form:

FC Midtjylland form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago

With it being the opening weekend of the campaign, both managers have several selection decisions to make.

Abdirahman could hand competitive debuts to summer signings Boison and Khatar, while fellow new arrival Bayrak is also pushing for a place in the starting XI.

Bayrak will compete with Marcus Bundgaard Sorensen for the goalkeeper's spot after the latter started regularly throughout last season.

Midtjylland welcomed Rasmus Kristensen back to the club this summer, and the experienced full-back captained the side against Besiktas on his second debut and is expected to start again here.

Friday Etim was sent off in Turkey but will serve his suspension in the second leg next week, meaning he remains available for domestic action and should lead the line on Sunday.

The visitors remain without Ousmane Diao, Mikel Gogorza and Junior Brumado, who all continue to recover from injury while there should be a start for former Premier League midfielder Philip Billing.

SonderjyskE possible starting lineup:

Olafsson; Duru, Gretarsson, Soulas, Klysner; Haidara, Emini, Vinderslev; Bergholt, Hoppe, Khatar

FC Midtjylland possible starting lineup:

Bayrak; Kristensen, Erlic, Lee; Jensen; Billing, Bravo, Byskov; Osorio, Etim, Dju

We say: SonderjyskE 1-2 FC Midtjylland

The opening day of the season is always a hard one to predict but we expect Tullberg's side, who finished 16 points ahead of SonderjyskE last season, to get the job done on Sunday. 

With that said, we do expect it to be a tight, closely fought contest with the visitors just about claiming three points here. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.