Preview: Malmo vs Galatasaray – prediction, team news, lineups

With the aim of defeating one of the favorites and winning the competition, Malmo will host Turkish giants Galatasaray at the Eleda Stadium for a Europa League Fight on Thursday evening.

Di Blae has already secured his domestic title in 2024 but continues to fight in Europe while Cimbom is on course for a successful campaign on all fronts.

Game preview

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Malmö has underlined its dominance on the domestic scene in recent years, now winning the Swedish Allsvenskan in four of the last five seasons. The team ended the 2024 season with a 2-1 win over Brommapojkarna on November 10, meaning the hosts ended Thursday with 11 points ahead of second-placed Hammarby.

However, Di Blae is struggling to translate his influence on the Swedish game into tangible results on the continental stage, with the Scandinavian powerhouses having won just one of their five league stage games so far, leaving them at risk of elimination from the competition in January.

Since a hard-fought 2-1 win in Azerbaijan against Qarabag FK on October 3, Malmö has suffered three straight defeats in the Europa League, losing to Olympiacos, Besiktas and Hungarian champions Ferencvaros 7-2 overall in a trio of competitions.

Last month he held his nerve from 12 yards out to convert a penalty Erik Botheim Di Blae gave hope for a result last time out at the Groupama Arena in Budapest, but a Barnabas Varga Double pack – paired with goals in the second half Kady Malinowski And Ibrahim Cisse Ferencvaros secured maximum points in a convincing manner.

He is a Europa League veteran thanks to his stints at Bordeaux, Anderlecht and Bayer Leverkusen. Isaac Kiese Thelin If Malmö want to finish in the top 24, they will need to show some of their goalscoring ability in the final three game weeks. The 31-year-old scored 15 goals in 26 Allsvenskan appearances in 2024.

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Galatasaray will travel to Sweden on Thursday evening as one of Europe’s in-form teams. The Turkish giants are on a 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions after a dramatic victory in a five-goal thriller at Sivasspor in the Turkish Super Lig on Sunday.

Goals from the former Leicester City player Yunus Akguntalisman Victor Osimhen and child prodigy Baris Yilmaz At the BG Group 4 Stadium, Cimbom scored two successful goals for the hosts, where Cimbom secured a victory that catapulted them to the top of the tournament Top placementsix points ahead of second-placed Fenerbahce.

Galatasaray focuses on Europa League matters and is one of seven teams in the Europa League League phase with 36 clubs who still have an unbeaten record after five games Okan BurukManchester United’s side currently sit in fourth place, just two points behind leaders Lazio and one point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur in ninth place.

In fact, last time out in the Europa League, Cimbom missed a golden opportunity to set foot in the knockout stages of the competition when an early goal from Dutchman only meant they were held to a 1-1 draw at the AFAS Stadium against AZ Alkmaar succeeded Sven Mijnans gave the hosts an early lead.

Nigerian international Osimhen, who was surprisingly loaned to Galatasaray from Napoli in the summer – despite numerous European giants vying for his services – is proving to be a real asset to the Turkish team and has scored ten goals in 13 competitive games so far.

Malmö Europa League form:

Malmö form (all competitions):

Galatasaray Europa League form:

Galatasaray form (all competitions):

Team news

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With extensive experience in English football thanks to his time at Brentford and Leeds United, Pontus Jansson is a tough loss for Malmö at the moment as he recovers from a knee injury.

Di Blae will also be without the services of the former Stoke City winger Sead Haksabanovicwho suffered a season-ending groin injury at the end of August.

The visitors to Malmo have suffered a serious injury blow, with top scorer Osimhen expected to be sidelined for two weeks with a muscle problem.

Out of service for the remainder of 2024-25, Mauro Icardi made a sensational start to the season for Galatasaray before suffering a cruciate ligament injury.

Adding to Cimbom’s selection problems at the top is the fact that 24-year-old Yilmaz is out until the New Year with a hamstring strain.

Therefore, the guests have to promote one of the strikers from the bench into the starting eleven on Sunday Michy Batshuayi a possible candidate for this position.

Malmö possible starting lineup:
Frederick; Larsen, Rosler, Zatterstrom, Busanello; Pena, Johnsen, Thelin, Christiansen, Rosengren; Botheim

Galatasaray’s possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Sanchez, Baltaci, Bardakci; Kutlu, Torreira, Sara, Akgun, Mertens; Ziyech, Batshuayi

We say: Malmö – Galatasaray 0:2

Despite their dominance in the Allsvenskan this season, Malmö will become underdogs once they step onto the continental stage and Thursday night’s clash will be no different.

Galatasaray are approaching 18 games without defeat in all competitions and it’s hard to imagine anything other than a Cimbom success at the Eleda Stadium.

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