Danish football/soccer : Danish Super League 2011/2012 season preview

Kobenhavn complete Danish title defence

Kobenhavn won the Danish Super League title for the third successive year last season. By winning the title with seven matches remaining, they set a new record in Denmark. Kobenhavn and runners-up Odense qualified for the UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round. Here is a short summary of the 2009/10 Super League campaign:

Champions: Kobenhavn (Champions League 3rd qualifying round)
Runners-up: Odense (UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round)
Third place: Brondby (UEFA Europa League)
Fourth place: Midtjylland (UEFA Europa League)
Danish cup winners: Nordsjaelland (UEFA Europa League)
Relegated: Randers, Esbjerg
Promoted: Aarhus and Koge.

Third-placed Brondby and fourth-placed Midtjylland secured the UEFA Europa League. Also joining them are Nordsjaelland, who have lifted the Danish Cup for the second year in succession. Randers and Esbjerg, the league's bottom two clubs, were relegated and replaced by Aarhus and Koge.

team	titles	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11
Kobenhavn	31	1	3	1	1	1
Brondby	10	6	8	3	3	3
Aarhus	5	-	10	6	11	-
Odense	3	4	4	2	2	2
Aalborg	3	3	1	7	5	10
Lyngby	2	-	12	-	-	8
Koge	2	-	-	-	12	-
Silkeborg	1	12	-	-	8	5
Midtjylland	-	2	2	4	6	4
Nordsjaelland	-	5	9	8	7	6
Horsens	-	10	5	12	-	9
Sonderjyske	-	-	-	10	9	7

*Number of titles since the 1912/13 season. Clubs B 1903 and KB were merged into Kobenhavn in 1992 and the number of titles for Kobenhavn includes titles for all three teams. The number of titles for Koge includes titles for Herfolge and Koge.

Kobenhavn hire Swedish coach Nilsson

Kobenhavn have appointed Malmo's Roland Nilsson as manager and head coach for the new season. The 47-year-old Swede replaces Stale Solbakken, who led the Danish champions to the knockout stage of the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League. Solbakken has been in charge since 2006 but will become Norway's head coach next year. Former Sweden right back Nilsson played for Helsingborg, Goteborg, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry City and Gais and had spells as manager at the last two clubs before joining Malmo.

This page contains additional information about the 2011/2012 Danish Super League season. Latest news, statistics, results and predictions you can find on our main Euro Football > Denmark page.

Other coaching changes

Kasper Hjulmand was promoted from his assistant's job to replace Nordsjaelland coach Morten Wieghorst, who leaves the club to take charge of the Danish u-21 side. Glen Riddersholm was also promoted to the head coach position of Midtjylland after Allan Kuhn resigned in April. Sonderjyske also have a new coach in former Viborg boss Lars Sondergaard.

#	team	points	g.dif.	win-draw-loss
1	Kobenhavn	81	48	25-6-2 (33)

2	Odense	55	14	16-7-10 (33)
3	Brondby	51	13	13-12-8 (33)
4	Midtjylland	49	8	13-10-10 (33)
5	Silkeborg	43	-6	10-13-10 (33)
6	Nordsjaelland	39	-12	10-9-14 (33)
7	Sonderjyske	39	-14	11-6-16 (33)
8	Lyngby	38	-10	10-8-15 (33)
9	Horsens	37	-11	9-10-14 (33)
10	Aalborg	35	-10	8-11-14 (33)

11	Randers	34	-7	6-16-11 (33)
12	Esbjerg	33	-13	7-12-14 (33)

Danish Super League standings for season 2010/2011.

Bookmakers favor Kobenhavn

Experts are generally in agreement that Kobenhavn will defend their title this season, but Brondby can definitely challenge for the trophy. Odense are also one of the favorites to win the 2011/12 Danish league title.

team	odds	team	odds
Kobenhavn	1.05	Brondby	7.5
Odense	7.5	Midtjylland	12
Aarhus	65	Aalborg	80
Silkeborg	300	Nordsjaelland	350
Horsens	500	Sonderjyske	1000
Lyngby	1500	Koge	2500

Preseason odds for the outright winner of the 2011/12 Danish football league.

Danish Cup finals in last five seasons

2007 Odense - Kobenhavn 2:1
2008 Brondby - Esbjerg 3:2
2009 Kobenhavn - Aalborg 1:0
2010 Nordsjaelland - Midtjylland 2:0
2011 Nordsjaelland - Midtjylland 3:2

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key players
(with transfer market value in m€)

Aalborg

Goalkeeper Carsten Christensen (0.2); Defense: Kenneth Emil Petersen (0.7), Kasper Bogelund (0.6), Kjetil Waehler (0.5), Lasse Nielsen (0.5); Midfield: Rasmus Wurtz (1), Anders Due (0.9), Thomas Augustinussen (0.5), Louay Chanko (0.5); Forward: Jeppe Curth (1), Nicklas Helenius (0.5).

Aarhus

Goalkeeper Steffen Rasmussen (1); Defense: Mark Howard (0.7), Atle Roar Haland (0.7), Jerry Lucena (0.7), Adam Eckersley (0.5); Midfield: Hjalte Bo Norregaard (1.5), Stephan Petersen (0.8), Kasper Povlsen (0.7), Martin Jorgensen (0.7); Forward: Peter Graulund (0.6), Davit Devdariani (0.5).

Brondby

Goalkeeper Stephan Andersen (2); Defense: Clarence Goodson (1.9), Daniel Stenderup (1), Anders Randrup (0.9); Midfield: Michael Krohn-Dehli (3.8), Mikkel Thygesen (3), Mike Jensen (2.8), Mikael Nilsson (1.4), Jens Stryger Larsen (1); Forward: Nicolaj Agger (1), Martin Bernburg (1).

Horsens

Goalkeeper Soren Jochumsen (0.3); Defense: Morten Rasmussen (0.6), Soren Jensen (0.5), Anders Nohr (0.4); Midfield: Martin Spelmann (1), Niels Lodberg (0.9), Martin Retov (0.8), Thomas Kortegaard (0.8), Jeppe Mehl (0.8); Forward: Gilberto Macena (1.5), Kenan Hajdarevic (0.3).

Kobenhavn

Goalkeeper Johan Wiland (2.5); Defense: Zanka (2.8), Solvi Ottesen (1.5), Ragnar Sigurdsson (1.5); Midfield: Claudemir (3.3), Christian Grindheim (3), Martin Vingaard (2.8), Christian Bolanos (2), Johan Absalonsen (1.5); Forward: Dame N'Doye (4.5), Cesar Santin (2.5).

Koge

Goalkeeper Morten Haastrup Jensen (0.3); Defense: Thomas Guldborg Christensen (0.4), Thomas Sorensen (0.4), Stefan Hansen (0.3), Andreas Sorensen (0.3); Midfield: Lasse Kronborg (0.4), Nicolaj Madsen (0.4), Marcel Romer (0.3), Martin Christensen (0.3), Bo Storm (0.3); Forward: Simon Christoffersen (0.6).

Lyngby

Goalkeeper Rune Pedersen (0.4); Defense: Mikkel Bischoff (0.7), Mathias Tauber (0.5), Frederik Krabbe (0.4), Jeppe Brandrup (0.4); Midfield: Kim Aabech (1.5), Morten Bertolt (0.9), Emil Larsen (0.8), Anders Christiansen (0.7); Forward: Bajram Fetai (0.8), Patrick Mortensen (0.5).

Midtjylland

Goalkeeper Jonas Lossl (1); Defense: Kristian Bak Nielsen (1.5), Martin Albrechtsen (1), Jesper Juelsgard (0.9); Midfield: Jakob Poulsen (2), Jonas Borring (1.5), Danny Olsen (1.4), Adigun Salami (0.9), Christian Sivebaek (0.8); Forward: Tim Janssen (1.3), Sly (0.8).

Nordsjaelland

Goalkeeper Jesper Hansen (0.5); Defense: Andreas Bjelland (1.5), Henrik Kildentoft (0.7), Michael Parkhurst (0.5); Midfield: Mikkel Beckmann (1.2), Matti Lund Nielsen (0.8), Enoch Kofi Adu (0.5), Patrice Bernier (0.5); Forward: Rawez Lawan (0.7), Tobias Mikkelsen (0.6), Andreas Retz Laudrup (0.5).

Odense

Goalkeeper Stefan Wessels (0.5); Defense: Espen Ruud (2.3), Tore Reginiussen (1), Bernard Mendy (1), Chris Sorensen (0.9); Midfield: Eric Djemba-Djemba (2), Hans Henrik Andreasen (1.8), Rurik Gislason (1.7), Mohamed Kalilou Traore (1.5); Forward: Peter Utaka (3), Morten Skoubo (1).

Silkeborg

Goalkeeper Lasse Heinze (0.8); Defense: Dennis Flinta (0.6), Thorbjorn Holst Rasmussen (0.5), Christopher Poulsen (0.5); Midfield: Martin Ornskov (1.1), Christian Holst (1), Frank Hansen (0.8), Kasper Risgard (0.5), Martin Svensson (0.5); Forward: Jesper Bech (1.3), Kaimar Saag (0.5).

Sonderjyske

Goalkeeper Nathan Coe (0.6); Defense: Anders Ostli (0.7), Jarl Andre Storbaek (0.5), Thomas Hansen (0.4), Michael Larsen (0.3); Midfield: Henrik Hansen (1), Eyjolfur Hedinsson (0.8), Mads Jessen (0.4); Forward: Kenneth Fabricius (1), Tommy Bechmann (0.5), Quincy Antipas (0.5).

Danish Superleague pages

Danish Super League statistics, news and predictions
Danish Super League standings
Danish Super League transfers
Danish Super League 2011/2012 preview - key players, 2011 standings