FC Nordsjælland-Silkeborg preview

Saturday 25/4 17.00

FC Nordsjælland (6th) have struggled in the past few matches and several absences could be a important factor. For this match, they will benefit from the return of central defender Andreas Maxsø and midfielder Martin Vingaard. Vital captain Patrick Mtiliga remains doubtful, while defensive midfielder Lasse Petry is a new absence due to a ban. In total, FC Nordsjælland look stronger for this match, where especially the defence should look more solid with the return of Maxsø. Offensively, FC Nordsjælland have had a few poor matches, but with quality players like Joshua John, Uffe Bech and David Moberg-Karlsson in the squad, they should be able to cause problems for Silkeborg. Silkeborg (12th) have seven points in the last four away matches, which is more than half their total sum of points for the season. Silkeborg like to sit back and frustrate the opponents through solid defensive work. They are not a team suited from coming from behind, so they have to be very determined from the start. For this match, they will be without the suspended midfield captain Frank Hansen, while midfield companion Emil Scheel looks to miss another match. Silkeborg could miss Hansen’s influence, but in terms of play, he is not an important absence. Silkeborg have been quite lucky in 2015. They score the lowest SoTR in the league of 36.7% and the stats indicate that they have been overly efficient in front of goal (11 goals on 22 shots on target).

The question is how the match evolves? Silkeborg will undoubtedly sit back and try to keep the match deadlocked for as long as possible. However, if FC Nordsjælland take the lead, their great offensive players should get more space, and the match could turn ugly. We take a slight gamble and pick a FC Nordsjælland by more than one. The alternative is that Silkeborg keep the score even.

Idea: 1 (AH -1.5) – 2.43 at Unibet

UPDATE: Mtiliga is back in the squad, which is great news for FC Nordsjælland who might be able to field the strongest possible formation. Scheel out for Silkeborg, who have only called up 16 players.