Experts unite to tip Elfsborg in Sweden

If the Allsvenskan coaches are right, IF Elfsborg can already start making room for the Lennart Johansson Trophy, the prize for the league champions. Twelve of the 16 top-flight managers picked Elfsborg as their favourites for the 2009 season, which begins this weekend.

Great expectations
The team from Boras in western Sweden last won the title in 2006, but finished only one point behind champions Kalmar FF in 2008 despite doing without influential midfielders Anders Svensson and Stefan Ishizaki for much of the season due to injury. Both are now fully fit and they join the likes of Emir Bajrami and newcomer Martin Ericsson in what is possibly the best midfield in Swedish club football. Add to that a defence marshalled by veteran Teddy Lucic and a forward line led by Sweden Under-21 international Denni Avdic, and it is understandable why expectations are high at Elfsborg.

One-title wonders?
Oddly enough, at the launch of the new league season in a Stockholm theatre on Tuesday, not one of the coaches thought that Kalmar would be able to hold onto their title. Indeed, Kalmar are not exactly the same team that won the league. Brazilian playmaker César Santin is now at FC København, while 2008 league top scorer Patrik Ingelsten and Swedish international Viktor Elm have joined SC Heerenveen. Also, few in Sweden expect Viktor's brother Rasmus Elm to remain in Swedish domestic football beyond the summer's transfer window. Rasmus is a full Swedish international, like Viktor, and should be a cornerstone in the host squad at June's UEFA European Under-21 Championship. That said, Kalmar coach Nanne Bergstrand has seen experts and media dismiss his team in the past and will not mind being underestimated again.

Contenders
IFK Göteborg have the league's most efficient shot-stopper in Danish goalkeeper Kim Christensen and a defensive line that many ranked as the best in the country, even before the arrival of Karl Svensson, back at the club after spells at Rangers FC and SM Caen. Most of the players also know what it takes to be champions, having won the title in 2007.
Helsingborgs IF have been boosted in terms of confidence, morale and quality by Henrik Larsson's decision to sign for one more year. Larsson, 37, remains a prolific scorer, and he has the ability to raise his team-mates' game. Veteran goalkeeper Daniel Andersson will receive healthy competition from promising 22-year-old Pär Hansson.
Malmö FF lost their top scorer Ola Toivonen to PSV Eindhoven, but have brought in Brazilian Wilton Figueiredo, a striker with a proven track record in the Allsvenskan after his time with GAIS Göteborg and AIK Solna. Figueiredo returns to Sweden from Qatar, while Malmö also have another important addition: their new 21,000-capacity stadium.

One to watch: Rasmus Elm
One of three Elm brothers who helped Kalmar to their maiden title in 2008, Rasmus has established himself in Lars Lagerbäck's Sweden set-up over the winter. The young midfielder scored a stunning half-volley against Austria in a February friendly and played the full 90 minutes of Sweden's 0-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw in Portugal last Saturday.

Stockholm syndrome
Three of the biggest clubs in the country are the Stockholm trio of AIK Solna, Djurgårdens IF FF and Hammarby IF, but not much is expected of any of them this year. Djurgården, champions three times in the 2000s, have created a bigger buzz through new coaching duo of Zoran Lukić and Andrée Jeglertz – the latter having made his name with regular UEFA Women's Cup finalists Umeå IK - than any new player brought in. AIK also have a new coach in Mikael Stahre but will be without first-choice keeper Tomi Maanoja for at least six months after a pre-season broken leg. Up front, Argentinian forward Iván Óbolo was much too isolated last year, but no big name has been recruited to help him out. Much of the goalscoring burden at Hammarby will lie with Charlie Davies. The United States international started fulfilling his potential last year when he scored 14 league goals but also wants for support up front.

Small town dominance
Stockholm has four Allsvenskan teams – IF Brommapojkarna joining the big three for their second ever season in the top flight – and so does Gothenburg, but the title favourites in 2009 are from smaller provincial towns. Can the country's two biggest cities show doubters that they have quality as well as quantity? Will Kalmar be able to keep their focus on the Allsvenskan as they enter the qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League? And can Elfsborg keep complacency at bay, with so many experts already placing the league title in the Borås Arena trophy room?