Silkeborg preview
After last weekend’s match against fellow league leaders AC Horsens, FC Copenhagen are now gearing up to face a side currently lying near the bottom of the division in Silkeborg IF.
by Joe Short
Copenhagen and Silkeborg have met 51 times in the Superliga and three times in the DBU Cup. From 54 overall matches Copenhagen have collected 22 wins, 21 games have ended in a draw while the remaining 11 times Silkeborg came away victorious.
Although there have been many draws over the years, FCK still hold a majority aggregate score of 86-68.
Copenhagen's most prolific goalscorer against Silkeborg IF is Faroese former striker Todi Jónsson. He scored eight times against Silkeborg, while three men – Lars Højer, Michael Silberbauer and Sibusiso Zuma – have all netted four against the side over the years.
In the current squad, César Santin has bagged three against Silkeborg and Christian Bolaños two.
Last season against SIF
The three showdowns last season resulted in FCK claiming seven points, with Silkeborg holding Copenhagen to a draw in the first meeting of the sides. The game was poised to go SIF’s way after taking a 2-0 lead in PARKEN, but surely enough Copenhagen remained resolute and battled their way back into the game. A goal from Santin and one from Dame N’Doye secured a 2-2 comeback for the Lions
The second match was played in Silkeborg, where Santin gave the Danish champions an early lead. Martin Vingaard made it 2-0 on 59 minutes before Bolaños wrapped up the tie with a third.
The Costa Rican winger also found the net in the final game between the sides last season: netting in the end stages of the game to secure a 2-0 victory after Claudemir had initially opened the scoring.
Silkeborg IF this season
The season started well for Silkeborg, as they won 2-1 away to FC Midtjylland on the opening day. However, this has been their only victory since. The week after they lost 1-0 to Brøndby IF by a goal in injury time. Since then they have drawn 1-1 against SønderjyskE, lost 2-1 to FC Nordsjælland and again drawn 1-1, this time with AGF.
Last weekend Silkeborg travelled to newly promoted club HB Køge. However, the game didn’t start well and the Jutland side found themselves 3-0 down after just 35 minutes. Although they tightened up after the break, the damage had already been done, and the side suffered their third loss of the season.
One of Silkeborg’s problems has been that they have not scored enough goals. Four of their five goals have been scored by midfielders (two for Dennis Flinta and two for Kasper Risgård) and of Silkeborg’s strikers only Christian Holst has found the net.
It can be acknowledged that Silkeborg haven’t had the start to the season they would have hoped for. After six games they lie in 10th place with just five points, three above bottom side HB Køge. It is their fourth worst start to a Superliga from 19 seasons. Only in 2010/11, 2006/07 and 2001/02 have Silkeborg had fewer points after six games.
