Hammarby sit a point off the top of the table and have for the most part impressed this season, only being beaten away by Mjällby and drawing with the resurgent Häcken recently. In other encounters they have dominated proceedings, beating title aspirants Malmö FF and Djurgården by two goals each and dismantling IFK Göteborg with a 4-0 scoreline. Nahir Besara is as dangerous as ever and the frontline looks lethal, creating the second-highest xG in Allsvenskan (11.3).

They control matches, especially against worse teams, averaging 59.1% possession, being productive and forward-thinking on the ball. The 3-0 beating of Östers last weekend was everything you’d expect, a true domination from start to finish.

IFK Norrköping have been hugely inconsistent in their first seven matches, looking potent in attack but also incredibly open defensively, unable to hold onto leads or keep teams out when games are in the balance. While securing victories over Öster, Halmstad and Värnamo, opponents they are expected to beat, they tend to come up short against teams with more quality. Häcken were the better side in their 2-0 win last weekend and other losses to Elfsborg and AIK have been of a similar nature.

The attacking prowess simply cannot compensate for their defensive issues, having conceded 1.66 xG per game on average. Hammarby are incredibly strong at home and Norrköping will struggle to cope with their onslaught.

We see an early top of the table clash between two in-form sides, both unbeaten in the first seven matches of the season, the only teams yet to lose in Allsvenskan. AIK have been performing steadily without impressing hugely, being very solid defensively and getting important goals at the right time in matches.

Their goal difference of 11-5 alludes to this, winning by one goal in all but one of their victories (2-0 vs Elfsborg). The derby against Djurgården last Sunday was a feisty affair, with a soft penalty given against AIK early in the game. They battled back to grab a well-deserved point, having 18 shots to Djurgården’s seven, however only amassing an xG figure of 1.33.

Mjällby go from strength to strength and look like the team to beat this season. Always defensively sturdy, they have this campaign become much more potent in attack, scoring 2.43 goals per game on average, only conceding 0.86 per match. The goals are being spread out, top scorers Manneh and Røjkjær sitting on five apiece, with Herman Johansson having bagged four to date. They are outperforming their xG quite substantially (1.59 xG per game), we are likely to see a reversion to the mean sometime soon.

This will be a tight game with AIK looking to restrict chances, which they tend to be able to do at home. Four of the last five between these two have had less than 2.5 goals and that trend should continue here.

Degerfors, after a hugely impressive start to the season, have dropped off in form, only winning one of the last five, losing three of these. The serious concussion suffered by star striker Omar Faraj has hit them hard, not having any adequate replacements to pick up the goalscoring burden.

In addition, there have been some defensive struggles, not keeping a clean sheet since Matchday 2. In that period, they have conceded a total of 11 goals, averaging 2.2 per match while only scoring 1.2. The home draw to Sirius last week saw a solid performance, amassing 1.88 xG to Sirius’s 0.79, but the cutting edge again wasn’t there, with the game finishing in a 1-1 draw.

Malmö FF have had their own share of troubles to start the year, looking less than cohesive and struggling to put away chances at important stages in matches. The 2-1 defeat to Brommapojkarna on Monday was a prime example, dominating possession (66%-34%) and creating more chances than their adversaries (2.18 xG – 1.99 xG) but getting caught on the counter and lacking sharpness in front of goal.

The defence looks much shakier without Pontus Jansson, his replacement Nils Zätterström not yet being as assured. However, the quality in their squad and attacking firepower means they should be able to win the vast majority of matches, but they do need strikers Kiese Thelin and Botheim to start firing. Not an easy away trip for Malmö but I expect them to get back to winning ways against a struggling Degerfors side.

The return to the top-flight has been a rough ride so far for Östers, managing a single win in the second round and suffering losses in the remaining six games. The squad simply isn’t good enough to compete at this level, with few signings made in the off-season. There is little constructive play, with an overreliance on set pieces, resulting in not scoring a single goal for five matches.

The run of fixtures hasn’t been kind to them in fairness, but something needs to change to give them any chance of staying up. Only creating a total of 6.1 xG in seven matches makes for grim reading, especially combined with their conceded xG figure of 10.2. Noah Söderberg, one of the few players with Allsvenskan experience in the squad, is suspended here due to an accumulation of yellow cards, making matters worse for the hosts.

Elfsborg, on the other hand, have been quietly impressive in the last month or so after a shaky start, collecting four wins from the previous five matches. Defensive solidity paired with variety in attack, as well as one of the best midfields in the division, should excite the fans in Borås. They have three clean sheets in the last five and have scored nine times, taking the game to opponents. The only recent loss came two weeks back to AIK who were simply better on the day, but otherwise Elfsborg have controlled matches and look dangerous in the final third. The away team should simply have too much for the struggling Östers here.