AGF form could prove tricky test

03/12 2011 10:44

FC Copenhagen will be looking to avenge a late Martin Jørgensen goal that saw AGF claim a point in PARKEN back in October, as the two teams gear up to face each other for a second time this season on Sunday.

by Joe Short

Following Wednesday’s UEFA Europa League draw with Vorskla Poltava, Copenhagen will want to get back to winning ways in the last Superliga fixture before the long winter break. AGF meanwhile will be looking to cement their claim to a European spot going into Christmas.

Back in October the two clubs left PARKEN with a point each following a 1-1 draw. FCK took the lead on 67 minutes, Dame N’Doye heading home from a Christian Bolaños cross. It looked as though the Danish champions would see out a 1-0 win, until Claudemir handballed in the last minute of the game, conceding a penalty that Jørgensen duly slotted past Johan Wiland.

Including this result, FCK and AGF have met 57 times. Copenhagen have won 25, lost 17 and drawn 15. The goal aggregate between the two clubs is also in FCK’s favour: 90-64

Recent level playing field

Competition has been almost equal over the last five games between the two clubs, with two draws and a 1-0 win for both sides. Bar a freak 5-0 victory for Copenhagen in the spring of 2010, it can be safe to say the sides match each other on numerous footings.

Back in 2010, it took just 40 minutes for César Santin to bag a hat trick, while Martin Vingaard added another before the break. In the second half the tempo fell, Mathias Zanka scoring on the hour mark to wrap up a resounding 5-0 victory, Copenhagen’s largest ever over AGF.

Good start to AGF’s season

AGF currently sit in fourth place in the Superliga, They have won seven, drawn seven and lost just three of their first 17 games.

With 28 points amassed already, the team from Aarhus are just one point behind third place FC Midtjylland, and ten off Copenhagen.

The season so far is AGF’s third best ever, after 17 games. In 1995/96 the club recorded 38 points from the same total of matches, interestingly the exact total Copenhagen have at the moment. The following year they also started well, amassing 29 points. The club respectively finished second and third in these two seasons, a good omen for where AGF may want to finish this term.

One of the reasons for AGF’s good run of form is their ability to pick up points on the road. The team have only lost two away games, in their second and fourth matches of the season, to AaB (2-1) and SønderjyskE (3-1).

Since then, the club has gone on to record a seven-game unbeaten streak away from home. However, they still have some distance to topple Copenhagen’s Superliga record of 18 domestic away games without defeat (26 April 2003 to 1 May 2004).

Søren Larsen joins Søren Berg as AGF’s top scorers so far this season, both with six goals. Injured Peter Graulund has five goals, with the man who equalised in PARKEN back in October – Jørgensen – on two.