Sports Mole previews Monday’s Danish Superliga clash between Lyngby Boldklub and Copenhagen, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Gameweek one in the 2024-25 Danish Supeliga season will draw to a close with Lyngby Boldklub taking on Copenhagen at Lyngby Stadion on Monday night.
The hosts ended last season as the first side above the drop with 36 points, while the visitors relinquished their two-season hold on the league title, finishing in third place.
Match preview
For a second consecutive season, Lyngby’s Superliga future came down to the final day of the campaign, when a goalless draw at home to Hvidovre saw them maintain their top-flight status by four points.
The 2023-24 season proved to be a tumultuous one for Vikingerne, who saw Freyr Alexandersson depart the club after almost three years in charge at the start of January to join Belgian Pro League outfit Kortrijk.
Norwegian Magne Hoseth stepped in for two matches until David Nielsen took over for the remainder of the season, during which the club also signed Gylfi Sigurdsson from Everton but released him after making just five appearances.
Nielsen’s reign ended on June 30 with Morten Karlsen appointed as his successor and the 45-year-old will now be tasked with helping the side pull away from the dotted line and cement their status as a top-flight competitor in their third consecutive season at the highest level.
However, first up for the new boss is Copenhagen, who have beaten his side in each of their last four league encounters and are unbeaten in their last seven dating back to November 2017.
Meanwhile, Copenhagen will be aiming for major improvement this season after last term turned into a rare trophyless campaign for the Danish giants following back-to-back league titles.
The Lions entered the playoff round third in the league standings, four points behind Midtjylland, and failed to close the gap on the eventual league winners, while only just edging Nordsjaelland to the final Conference League qualifier spot.
However, the highlight of the season for Jacob Neestrup was leading his side to the round of 16 in the Champions League ahead of the likes of Galatasaray and Manchester United, who were drawn in the same group.
Undoubtedly, the side’s main objective will be to return to the summit of the domestic league standings this season, and the key to that will be improving their home record, having lost an uncharacteristic five matches at Parken Stadium during the regular season.
Nevertheless, the visitors will be expecting to get the season off to a winning start given their record in this fixture, which shows that they have outscored this opponent by a whopping 24-6 during their current unbeaten streak against them.
Lyngby Boldklub Danish Superliga form:
Copenhagen Danish Superliga form:
Team News
Lyngby ended last term with five players on the treatment table, though all of them are believed to be back to full fitness barring Magnus Jensen, who is flagged as a doubt for this season-opener.
The hosts have also seen a couple of key players depart over the summer, including Tochi Chukwuani to Sturm Graz and Andri Gudjohnsen to Gent, while the most notable acquisition was that of Mathias Hebo Rasmussen from Cracovia.
Copenhagen, on the other hand, will get the new season started without four players due to injury, including Elias Jelert, Elias Achouri, William Clem and Roony Bardghji. Noah Sahsah and Nicolai Boilesen are doubts.
During the offseason, the Lions parted ways with goalkeeper Kamil Grabara to Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg, as well as Isak Johannesson and Oscar Hojlund to Dusseldorf and Eintracht Frankfurt respectively.
Lyngby Boldklub possible starting lineup:
Storch; Gregor, Bjelland, Lissens; Storm, Roemer, Winther, Finnsson; Kumado, Gytkjae, Amon
Copenhagen possible starting lineup:
Trott; Huescas, McKenna, Garananga; Vavro; Mattsson, Lerager, Claesson; Larsson, Oskarsson, Elyounoussi
We say: Lyngby Boldklub 1-2 Copenhagen
After a poor season by their lofty standards last time out, Copenhagen will be determined to win back the Superliga title this term, and they will be confident of making a winning start to the new campaign against a side they have dominated in the past.
The Lions are on a four-match winning streak against Lyngby and we feel they will extend that record with another victory in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.