Our prediction for this Europa League match:
Malmo will look to build on a 3-1 league win over Sundsvall when they host Sivasspor to their Eleda Stadion in the Europa League playoffs, first leg. The Blues faced no difficulties in the double-header with Dudelange, but they will have a much bigger fish to fry against the Turkish outfit. A man to watch in the home team will be Isaac Thelin, who has found his goal-scoring touch of late, while all Lewicki, Lomotey, Nalic, Olsson, and Siby are likely to miss the game with injuries.
Sivasspor, on the other hand, experienced all sorts of problems at the back in a 3-0 loss to Adana. Considering that Riza Calimbay’s men made a slow start to the new Super Lig campaign, we are tempted to put our money on Malmo this time out. Robin Yalcin has joined fellow midfielder Hakan Arslan in Sivasspor’s recovery room.
Highlighted Player (Niklas Moisander):
Despite playing for Ajax during his youth career, Niklas Moisander began started playing for Finnish side TPS at senior level. However, after making 17 league appearances for the club in the 2002/2003 season, he returned to Ajax on 5 June, 2003. Moisander played for Jong Ajax in Beloften Eredivisie and in 2006 he joined Zwolle.
The Finnish defender signed for fellow Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar in 2008 and he spent four years at the club. In 2012 he returned to Ajax and he started playing for the Amsterdam Arena outfit on regular basis. After making 77 league appearances for Ajax between 2012 and 2015, he joined Sampdoria on March 2015 on a free transfer.
Moisander signed a three-year deal with the club and he played 22 league games for La Samp in the 2015/2016 Serie A campaign. At the end of the season he moved to Werder Bremen. The former Ajax footballer was born on 29 September, 1985 in Turku, Finland.
Highlighted Team (Sivasspor):
Sivasspor is a Turkish football club based in the city of Sivas. The Red and Whites have been competiting in the Super Lig since 2005, but they have yet to win the domestic trophy. The club’s biggest came in the 2008/09 season when they finished the campaign in the second position in the standings, five points behind champions Besiktas.
As a result, they represented Turkey in the Champions League third qualifying round. Anderlecht proved to be a big catch for the Yigidolar in the qualifiers for the elite competition and, to make things even worse for the fans, the Red and Whites were beaten by Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League playoffs as well.
Sivasspor welcome their rivals at Sivas Stadium, which can hold up to 27,532 spectators. Max Gradel, Arouna Kone and Mustapha Yatabare are the notable players who play for the clubs. Sivasspor were founded on May 9, 1967.