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Danish Superligaen: Three-way title race promises exciting Championship Playoff

Danish Superligaen: Three-way title race promises exciting Championship Playoff

Del

On the other side of the men’s international break, the Danish Superliga resumes with the league having split into two. At the top of the standings, three teams are split by as many points in what promises to be an incredibly exciting title race.

By Neel Shelat

Things are very tight at the top of the Superligaen table right now. League leaders FC Midtjylland are just one point ahead of Brøndby, whose local rivals FC København are hot on their heels as they’re just one result off the top of the table.

These teams will face off home and away in the six-team Championship playoff over the next two months – starting with today’s Derby between second and third, so the title is firmly up in the air right now. Obviously, each of these teams will back themselves to get the job done, so let us take a look at the cases for and against each.

FC Midtjylland

FC Midtjylland have recently established themselves as regular contenders at the top of the table, but they have the fewest titles among the three title contestants. They endured quite a tough campaign last time out as well, ending up in the relegation play-offs.

However, they ended up building the foundations for their title charge in the latter period of last season. Going into the relegation group, they hired Thomas Thomasberg from Randers as their new head coach. He came in and simplified things as the Wolves switched to a simple 4-4-2 formation, prioritising a solid defence, directness in possession and fluid attacking.

Midtjylland comfortably finished first in the relegation group last season and have carried that momentum into the new season. Their tactics have remained largely unchanged, so they have generated the second-highest xG tally in the league despite being among the bottom half teams in terms of possession.

Summer signing Cho Gue-sung has been the team’s top-scorer with 10 league goals, and support from the likes of Guinea-Bissau international Franculino Djú and 22-year-old Oliver Sørensen makes the FCM attack very exciting to watch.

Of course, the big question mark around them is whether their atypical style of play can actually get them over the line. A lot may depend on their defensive record, which is only the joint fourth-best in the league so far.

Brøndby

Brøndby’s presence in this title battle should also be considered unexpected as well. They finished 15 points off the top spot last season and 17 the season prior, so they clearly did not build on their 2020/21 title triumph very well.

They too are enjoying their first full season under new head coach Jesper Sørensen, whose back-three system has worked quite well. Brøndby have the second-highest possession average in the league, the second-most goals scored and the fewest conceded. Ex-Silkeborg striker Nicolai Vallys has been their most important player, and has the best attacking return in the whole league.

All of those stats and figures look quite good, but they hide one critical point: Brøndby’s underlying numbers. By our Expected Points model, they should be fourth in the league behind FC Nordsjælland and have overperformed by a whopping 10 points.

On the plus side, though, they have delivered on the big days; Brøndby have only lost one of their four matches against their direct title rivals. Now that they are firmly in the mix in the Championship group, they have a real chance of going all the way.

FC København

Although they are in third spot right now, defending champions FC København might yet be the favourites to get the job done. As the previously mentioned xPoints table highlights, their underlying performance has remained the best in Denmark.

A big factor behind their occasionally choppy league form has been their European campaign, which led to just their second-ever Champions League knockout tie after starting in the qualifiers. As a result of this intense run, they have had to manage their priorities. Indeed, every match in which they have dropped points in the league this season has been either preceded or followed by a Champions League fixture.

Now, though, FCK are out of all cup competitions and can solely focus on the league for the last two months of the season. With a full strength squad kept fit and fresh by weekly matches, they will surely be the strongest team in the league.

The fact that they have scored more goals than anyone else is made even more impressive when you look at their top-scorers list, which has teenage sensation Roony Barghji on top with only seven goals to his name.

A wide spread of goal contributions around the squad is a good thing, but it does mean that don’t have a star striker they can rely on for big games. This probably is the reason why they have just one win against their direct rivals, so they will surely need to do better in that respect if they are to reclaim the crown.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Denmark’s top flight live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Danish Superligaen: Three-way title race promises exciting Championship Playoff

On the other side of the men’s international break, the Danish Superliga resumes with the league having split into two. At the top of the standings, three teams are split by as many points in what promises to be an incredibly exciting title race.

By Neel Shelat

Things are very tight at the top of the Superligaen table right now. League leaders FC Midtjylland are just one point ahead of Brøndby, whose local rivals FC København are hot on their heels as they’re just one result off the top of the table.

These teams will face off home and away in the six-team Championship playoff over the next two months – starting with today’s Derby between second and third, so the title is firmly up in the air right now. Obviously, each of these teams will back themselves to get the job done, so let us take a look at the cases for and against each.

FC Midtjylland

FC Midtjylland have recently established themselves as regular contenders at the top of the table, but they have the fewest titles among the three title contestants. They endured quite a tough campaign last time out as well, ending up in the relegation play-offs.

However, they ended up building the foundations for their title charge in the latter period of last season. Going into the relegation group, they hired Thomas Thomasberg from Randers as their new head coach. He came in and simplified things as the Wolves switched to a simple 4-4-2 formation, prioritising a solid defence, directness in possession and fluid attacking.

Midtjylland comfortably finished first in the relegation group last season and have carried that momentum into the new season. Their tactics have remained largely unchanged, so they have generated the second-highest xG tally in the league despite being among the bottom half teams in terms of possession.

Summer signing Cho Gue-sung has been the team’s top-scorer with 10 league goals, and support from the likes of Guinea-Bissau international Franculino Djú and 22-year-old Oliver Sørensen makes the FCM attack very exciting to watch.

Of course, the big question mark around them is whether their atypical style of play can actually get them over the line. A lot may depend on their defensive record, which is only the joint fourth-best in the league so far.

Brøndby

Brøndby’s presence in this title battle should also be considered unexpected as well. They finished 15 points off the top spot last season and 17 the season prior, so they clearly did not build on their 2020/21 title triumph very well.

They too are enjoying their first full season under new head coach Jesper Sørensen, whose back-three system has worked quite well. Brøndby have the second-highest possession average in the league, the second-most goals scored and the fewest conceded. Ex-Silkeborg striker Nicolai Vallys has been their most important player, and has the best attacking return in the whole league.

All of those stats and figures look quite good, but they hide one critical point: Brøndby’s underlying numbers. By our Expected Points model, they should be fourth in the league behind FC Nordsjælland and have overperformed by a whopping 10 points.

On the plus side, though, they have delivered on the big days; Brøndby have only lost one of their four matches against their direct title rivals. Now that they are firmly in the mix in the Championship group, they have a real chance of going all the way.

FC København

Although they are in third spot right now, defending champions FC København might yet be the favourites to get the job done. As the previously mentioned xPoints table highlights, their underlying performance has remained the best in Denmark.

A big factor behind their occasionally choppy league form has been their European campaign, which led to just their second-ever Champions League knockout tie after starting in the qualifiers. As a result of this intense run, they have had to manage their priorities. Indeed, every match in which they have dropped points in the league this season has been either preceded or followed by a Champions League fixture.

Now, though, FCK are out of all cup competitions and can solely focus on the league for the last two months of the season. With a full strength squad kept fit and fresh by weekly matches, they will surely be the strongest team in the league.

The fact that they have scored more goals than anyone else is made even more impressive when you look at their top-scorers list, which has teenage sensation Roony Barghji on top with only seven goals to his name.

A wide spread of goal contributions around the squad is a good thing, but it does mean that don’t have a star striker they can rely on for big games. This probably is the reason why they have just one win against their direct rivals, so they will surely need to do better in that respect if they are to reclaim the crown.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from Denmark’s top flight live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.