- Hammarby are in good shape ahead of this fixture with 6 wins and 4 defeats in their last 10 in all competitions.
- Anderlecht have been patchy with 2 wins, 3 draws and 5 defeats in their last 10 in all competitions.
Hammarby home bite gives Swedes the edge
Hammarby IF are in better shape than RSC Anderlecht at this point in the season and will be a threat to the visitors in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League Qualification 2026 playoff at 3Arena on Thursday.
The odds on this game seem to favour the visitors at 2.4, but Henrik Rydstroem has the hosts at 2.9 and the draw at 3.25, which is too big.
Hammarby are coming into the game on the back of two Allsvenskan wins against IF Elfsborg and midweek leaders Kalmar FF, which will have sharpened them up nicely for this clash.
RSC Anderlecht, on the other hand, have been up and down all season and a 5-1 hammering away to Union St.-Gilloise in the Championship Group of the First Division A still looks like a major red flag for this tie.
Hosts have more edge at home
Vitor Bruno has got his Anderlecht team playing a similar possession-based and counter-pressing game, which involves getting the ball down and pinning teams back.
However, they are yet to win away in any competition in 2026, drawing one and losing three of their four road fixtures, while they have already conceded 11 times in those contests.
That is a big concern for Anderlecht, while Hammarby are a much improved outfit under Rydstroem who arrived in June.
He has made them much more compact and structured in their shape, and pragmatic in how they select their moments to attack in transition.
They are averaging 2.50 goals per game at home in all competitions, but have also only conceded 0.75 on average with a record of three wins and one loss.
Anderlecht need Danylo Sikan to be on his game.
Their two Allsvenskan victories in the last week have seen them get their attacking rhythm and in Paulos Abraham they have a livewire who can deliver them the edge in the final third.
Anderlecht will need a big game from their main striker Sikan, who has scored three times in their last five as the Belgians have tallied nine goals in total in the same number of contests.
Our selection of Both teams to score at 1.72 and Over 2.5 goals at 1.95 makes more sense than the draw because both sides have enough quality to score and there are goals in this fixture, rather than it being a cagey affair.
