Although Superettan means “The Super First”, it is actually the second tier of men’s professional football in Sweden (the Allsvenskan, meaning “The All-Swedish” being the top tier). It is quite possible you haven’t heard of the Superettan, let alone considered having a bet on it, but given that the season runs from April to October it can be a great option to consider when most major European league are in summer hibernation. Here we bring you the lowdown on this surprisingly interesting league, with the latest betting tips and predictions for the 2016 season. We also bring you odds comparison for the Superettan, meaning you can always find the best betting odds right here without having to trawl through loads of different bookies.
So, a bit of background on the Superettan to kick things off: the Superettan was created in the year 2000 to replace a hotchpotch of regional leagues that had previously made up the de facto second tier of Swedish football. The division contains 16 teams who play one another twice during the course of the season (so 30 games each and 240 matches in total in the regular season).
At the end of the season the top two teams are promoted to the Allsvenskan and the bottom two are relegated to the third tier, Division 1 – which is split into Northern and Southern sections. The team that finishes third in the Superettan has a playoff against the third-bottom side from the top flight with the winner getting the place in the first tier; the sides that finish third and fourth from bottom in the Superettan, meanwhile, have playoff matches against the sides that finish second in the Northern and Southern sections of Division 1. Got all that?
Right, moving on and looking at the past winners it is clear that – because this is a second tier rather than a top division – there has been no one club that has dominated. The 2015 champions were Jönköpings Södra IF with Östersunds FK finishing in second place and IK Sirius ending in third and then losing in the playoffs. Managed by former AIK player Kim Bergstrand, Sirius are the current favourites to win the 2016 Superettan title, priced at best betting odds of 15/8 with Bet365.
Having spent much of their history in lower league obscurity, it would be a massive achievement for Sirius to make it to the top tier of Swedish football for the first time since their “glory days” of 1974. After two wins from their first two matches in 2016, they have started the current campaign well, but it is early days and anything can happen.
There are sure to be strong challenges from the likes of Halmstad – who are priced at betting odds of 14/5 with Unibet – and GAIS – 10/1 with Bet365. But it is actually the side who won the Northern section of Division 1 (AFC United) who we predict could make a real push for the title this term… and at best betting odds of 40/1 with 10Bet, they look like excellent value to us.
AFC United are coached by Özcan Melkemichel, who played for (while working as a hairdresser!) and then coached Syrianska FC, who he took to the top tier. He has experience of getting the best from a small side and our long odds betting tip here is to back AFC United to win the Superettan at massive odds of 40/1.