There has been an ongoing debate for many years here in Sweden that the domestic football league should change the schedule of its season, so that the Swedes are playing in sync with the rest of Europe.
But then, again we’d probably need to upgrade the facilities by, for example, constructing more stadia with retractable roofs - as the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm already boasts.
And forget any thoughts of playing on natural grass. It is somewhat colder and darker in the Nordic countries in the winter than in southern or central Europe, to put it mildly.
The main argument for playing at the same times as the rest of Europe is to make Swedish club football more competitive. If this were to be the case it might also be expedient to introduce a performance tax for professional footballers, as has already been done in Denmark - it is these social contributions that could serve to crack ‘elitist’ football in Sweden.
As the situation stands at the moment, Swedish football teams tend to reach their peak performance before most clubs in the rest of Europe have even found their way out on to the pitch for Champions’ League qualification.
The 2014 Allsvenskan (lit. ‘All-Swedish’ - the Swedish equivalent of the English Premier League, the Italian Serie A or the German Bundesliga) season is all but over, with Malmö FF clear winners - discounting the ‘swamp walkers’ as we call them in Sweden.
These latter teams are fighting to avoid the drop to the Superetten (2nd-tier division - the 3rd from bottom team in the Allsvenskan plays off against the 3rd from top Superetten team, with the 2 teams swapping places if the Superetten team should win).
Three matches remain, with most clubs in effect already starting their off-season vacation.
Örebro has shown the best form lately in the Allsvenskan, and have made great leaps up the table to secure their position, albeit in something of a no-man’s land.
That said, I think they may find it difficult to recharge the batteries before the away game against Djurgården on Monday.
The blue stripes (Djurgården IF) have the highest attendance of any Allsvenskan team, and enjoy an atmospheric home support when playing at the Tele2 Arena.
In matches that otherwise might mean nothing, the home crowd often give added fortitude to the players and are perhaps worth a goal on their own.
Djurgården is a team with several distinct qualities. They have just finished a season under new coach Pelle Olsson. I had the good fortune to meet the whole gang at a pre-season training camp in Marbella, during which we enjoyed a Poker night together too, so I was able to get a good idea of their team spirit.
In fact it was already buoyant - that very same day, they had defeated the-then 3rd placed team in the Russian league, Spartak Moscow no less, 2-0!
It took some time for Olsson’s way of doing things to sink in with the players, but DjurgÃ¥rden have seen a strong end to the season this Autumn.
DjurgÃ¥rden at 1.85 to win is my game on Monday…
…Take it to the bank!
As regards other games, Gefle are hosting Norrköping on Sunday. Both teams have 29 points and are 2 of the 4 teams battling against relegation…
Normally I like to bet against teams that ‘must’ win. They needed to win before too, but singularly failed in that. And if they ‘had to’ win before and didn’t, maybe they were not that good to begin with?!?
In such a crunch game, where both teams are a ‘must win’, we can expect a nervous, uncommunicative, and boring match. An early goal thus becomes a horrible start for both teams.
Gefle averages at 1.11 goals and ‘Peking’ play at 1.26 goals over this season.
This will be a belt and braces job, and a game with odds on under 2.5 goals standing at 2.04.
The first thought that springs to many bettors’ minds is simply to play with a conservative, orthodox approach, but this will often be a mistake when betting on these types of knuckle-whitening matches -  it can all go pear-shaped after just the 1 goal kills the game outright.
The team that scored then ‘parks the bus’ and coasts home, and the other team lacks the qualities to break through. And soon, but perhaps not soon enough, the game’s over.
In fact in this type of match the home team can actually be at a disadvantage, if their own supporters are particularly vocal in putting them under pressure.
The home team often feel they have to move forward all the time and take advantage of the mystical ‘home ground advantage’. But when it comes to 2 mediocre teams, vulnerability to counter-attack on the break is always a danger.
Norrköping at 1,85 - and money back if it’s a draw, is a price worth a flutter on this game…
Written by Ken Lennaárd, Swedish professional poker player and successful punter.