Half time in Sweden.

[david in sweden]

we've reached the halfwaypoint in the Swedish season, (15 games) and as usual the break around Midsummer (this time extended by the Euros) has upset a bit of form. A month ago, Elfsborg were 9 points ahead of the second placed club, and decided to give a run-out to their second string keeper with disasterous results when they went down 1-4 away to Åtvidaberg.. (who have recovered some of their early season form). Elfsborg then proceeded to lose their next game, when despite taking the lead (goal by Anders Svensson- who turned 36 this week ) but they finally lost the game when the opposition's 16 y.o. sub scored in the 90th minute.

 

A bit of a comedown for Elfsborg who were maybe a bit over-confident after their prev. weeks' jaunt when they put 8 past their part-time Cypriot opponents in the Champions League Qualififying round.

 

Malmo and Helsingborg have hit good form, and are close behind Elfsborg in 2nd/3rd spots and pressing hard. The joke about "Swedish equality" has been taken too far as almost every other game seems to end in a draw with former "giants" like Stockholm's Djurgården, and Gothenburg wallowing in mid-table having drawn more than half their matches, and finding goals hard to come by.

 

At the bottom end of the table...even the worst of the rest have drawn clear of the bottom clubs Örebro and GAIS, who together with Gefle, have only managed 5 wins between them, and looked doomed for the drop already.

 

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The top three sides in the Superettan (Npc) are setting a real pace and beginning to distance themselves from the rest of their division. If they continue to hold their form, they'll be the obvious replacements for those in the drop zone.

Edited 17 July, 2012 by david in sweden