Kolding – Nordsjaelland
Denmark - DBU Pokalen, Round 3
Nordsjaelland, the Danish vice-champions, found themselves in the first result crisis in the second half of September - and the ideal opportunity to get out of it is a game away in Kolding, in the round of 32 of the national Landspokal Cup.
Against a team from the second tier of the national league, the Nordsjaelland team will first of all try to find their recognizable efficiency in attack again. On Monday, the team from Farum unexpectedly disappointed at home in a 0:0 draw against Hvidovre, the club that is in last place in the Danish Superliga. It is a big surprise, since Nordsjaelland played the most attractive attacking football in Denmark last season, but also throughout the summer, with a well-deserved place in the Europa Conference League group stage.
Kolding, on the other hand, plays with a mixed results in Division 1, second tier of the Danish championship. This team has two defeats in the last five matches, and in the last match, they lost 2:1 at home against Fredericia (September 22). However, during the last month, Kolding played impressively in several games, such as the match away to Ringkobing (4:0 win on September 6), or against Helsingor at home ten days earlier (also 4:0).
It is important to note that Nordsjaelland against Hvidovra on Monday also had a large number of chances and as many as 22 shots on goal - but failed to score against a defensively oriented opponent.
However, Kolding will certainly not defend all 90 minutes, but will try to threaten the favorites in the national cup match. That guarantees at least three goals in this match, and Nordsjaelland has shown that it is a particularly dangerous team in matches where it has a chance to threaten from the counterattack.
This teams last played back in 2002 in Division 1 – then Nordsjaelland won 2:1. In their last match in Kolding, 22 years ago, the home team lost 5:1. There is a good chance that both teams will manage to score in this match as well.
It is important to note that the guests have no worries when it comes to possible injuries of important players. However, Nordsjaelland have yet to adjust their attacking game, after the departure of the great talent Nuamah to the French team Lyon. The duel with Kolding in the Landspokal Cup is an ideal opportunity to play a fluid attack, and a possible new bad perfromance will not be tolerated. However, the probability of such a thing happening is minimal, considering the lack of quality that the Kolding team has in defense.
The Kolding team has never even appeared in the final of the national cup, while Nordsjaelland won it twice, the last time in 2011. The favorites believe that thay have the quality to win at least one trophy this season, and the Landscpokal could be the ideal opportunity to make that ambition come true.