FC Copenhagen will begin its title defense in the Danish Superliga on Saturday with an away game against Lyngby.
Bookmaker William Hill is offering odds at 4.20 for the visitors to dominate right from the off and win both halves. The odds are at 17.00 for Lyngby to have a dream start to the campaign and win both halves.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 21st, 5:30 P.M. (EST)
Copenhagen had a very rough start to last season, losing six of the first 10 fixtures, but the team was still able to win the 15th league title in club history to match the Superliga’s all-time record. The quest for a 16th triumph starts for Copenhagen against a team they dominated in 2022-23, winning both matches 3-0.
As a promoted side, Lyngby struggled against most opponents last season and barely avoided going back down to the second tier. Freyr Alexandersson’s team has been a yo-yo club in Denmark in recent years and 2023-24 is likely going to be another struggle.
Lyngby will try to frustrate Copenhagen as much as possible but there should be a big gap in quality on show at Lyngby Stadion. Copenhagen hasn’t lost a head-to-head meeting since 2017 and Lyngby has avoided defeat just once in the past seven league clashes.
Viktor Claesson led the charge in this match-up last season for Copenhagen, scoring three goals in the two games, and he’s set to be one of his team’s leaders again in 2023-24. The Swedish winger suffered a horrible knee injury a few years back and has turned 31, but Claesson ended up producing his best-ever campaign in 2022-23 with a 17-goal effort across all competitions.
Lyngby’s attack was led by Sevar Atli Magnusson and Frederik Gytkjaer last season and the two have stuck around for the new season as well. The duo combined for 11 league goals in 2022-23. In 2022, Lyngby was also able to pick up former Real Sociedad and Augsburg man Alfred Finnbogason, but the Iceland star has only been a bit-part player for the team and clearly isn’t at his best anymore at 34 years old.
Following a very strong finish to last season, which included winning the Danish Cup, Copenhagen should be confident of a good start to the 2023-24 campaign. Lyngby will have the home advantage, but the team will likely take a very conservative approach and simply hope to keep Copenhagen at bay for as long as possible. However, with the Lions having scored in 26 straight league meetings in the match-up, it appears unlikely that Lyngby will manage to hold out until the end.
