Kalmar FF vs AIK Predictions

After a stuttering start to the new campaign, Kalmar appeared to be on the up, though they once again failed to build momentum last time out, as they were beaten by Djurgarden. Now back on their own patch, Magnus Pehrsson’s men will be hoping to get the better of top-three side AIK.

It’s been a pretty poor campaign all round for Kalmar, who’ve struggled to get going both on their travels and at home. It’s never going to be easy for the lesser sides to consistently get results on the road, so Kalmar can perhaps be forgiven for taking just six points from their first seven away matches, but if they’re to avoid the drop, then things certainly need improve at home.

In front of their own fans, Kalmar have claimed just seven points, winning one, drawing four and losing one of their six games at Guldfågeln Arena. They’ve not been easy to beat, though at the same time, they’ve found it very tough to get their noses in front. A reasonably solid rear-guard, which has conceded a respectable seven goals, has allowed Saturday’s hosts to make a habit of avoiding defeat at home, but a lack of end-product at the other end is why they’ve recorded only one home win. Kalmar have scored just six goals at home during the current campaign, scoring more than once in just one of those six.

Fortunately for the hosts, they’re up against an AIK side that has had similar problems on the road. Saturday’s visitors are not easy to beat away from home, but they’ve also found it tough to claim maximum points. Like Kalmar at home, they’ve shipped just seven in six, but they’ve only scored seven, so they’ve been similarly tame in attack.

From a betting point of view, given that there’s little between the Kalmar’s home form and AIK’s away form, the early prices available look about right, so backing either team to emerge victorious offer little value. One selection that does look slightly overpriced is ‘Both Teams to Score’.

Kalmar have defended reasonably well at home. Much of the same can be said for the visitors away from home, though if we dig a little deeper, it’s easy to feel that the chances of both finding the net on Saturday are slightly greater than the current odds suggest. For starters, both have conceded in two of their last three respective home and away games, while there has also been an average of 2.44 expected goals in Kalmar’s last three at home. Furthermore, both teams are scoring and conceding slightly over a goal per game in their respective home and away games, while Kalmar are averaging 1.87 expected goals for and conceding 1.13 in front of their own fans.