Halmstad will host the struggling Varbergs at Örjans Vall, on Monday, July 19, in the 11th round of Allsvenskan. Varbergs travel down south with only two wins on the season and one of the worst goal differentials in the league, hoping to bounce back and defeat the hosts for the first time since 2019.
Halmstad vs Varbergs
When: Monday, July 19 – 19:00 CEST
Where: Örjans Vall in Halmstad, Sweden
Weather: Sunny, 22°C
Referee: Kaspar Sjöberg (SWE)
Each team has played 10 games in the 2021 Allsvenskan so far, but neither can be proud of their achievements. That especially holds true for Varbergs, who sit in the relegation zone, just one spot above Orebo, who are dead-last with seven points to their name.
Halmstad haven’t been doing much better, accumulating just three points more than Varbergs. On the bright side, the hosts have improved their form significantly in recent months and are undefeated since early May.
Halmstad Want to Continue Their Rise from the Ashes
Last season, Halmstad competed in the second tier of the Swedish football system, the Superettan. They finished at the very summit of the table, securing a direct promotion into Allsvenskan, where they enjoyed a strong start, beating last year’s bronze medalists, Hacken, with 1-0.
However, from there, things started to fall apart. Halmstad went winless in the following five games, with three losses and two draws. The good news is that the dry streak is over – Halmstad are now undefeated across the last five outings.
What’s worrying is that four of those five games ended in a draw, two of which finished in a 0-0 stalemate. Scoring seems to be Halmstad’s main problem this season – with eight goals across 10 outings, HBK are the second-least productive team in the league, better than only Orebro, who managed six goals in 11 fixtures.
One of the possible reasons for Halmstad’s poor scoring is that this team is relying too much on one player – Marcus Antonsson. Their no.9 has scored five goals this season, making him one of the most productive players in the league. There are only three players in the Allsvenskan who have scored more than five goals.
Even though Antonsson has been in fantastic form, his teammates aren’t. He’s the only player on the team with more than one goal to his name.
Varbergs Look Very Poor at the Back
With 20 goals conceded in 10 games, Varbergs are the second-worst defensive team in the league. They’ve allowed at least a goal in all of their league outings since their draw against Mjallby (0-0) in the opening round of the season.
Due to their leaky defence, Varbergs have dropped a lot of points this year. They are at 2-2-6 on the season with three losses in their last five outings. Their most recent loss happened in the previous round when Varbergs lost against AIK (1-2).
Varbergs actually took the lead in that game but suffered an equaliser only 14 minutes later. AIK eventually took all three points with a 77′ goal and were the better team throughout the 90 minutes.
Besides their leaky defence, Varbergs are also fairly inefficient on the road. They travel to Halmstad with three straight away losses and are 1-1-3 in away games on the 2021 Allsvenskan season.
Halmstad vs Varbergs Betting Picks
Halmstad have been struggling scoring goals of late, managing only eight from 10 rounds of play. That, however, shouldn’t concern them for tonight’s match against Varbergs, who regularly concede at least one goal in their fixtures and have leaked six goals in their last three outings.
Take Halmstad to secure their third win of the season and second at Örjans Vall!
Pick: Halmstad -0.25 Asian Handicap – 1.90 Sportmarket
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