Will Viking manage to break the Bodo/Glimt-Molde duopoly, which has dominated the Eliteserien, Norway’s top league, since 2019, winning four and two titles respectively? In Norway, this is a question many are asking after the sensational start of the club from the city of Stavanger, whose last triumph dates back to 1991. In the first 14 games of the season, Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim’s men, despite having played a few more games than their direct rivals, are alone at the top of the table with 33 points, seven ahead of the second-placed team. With just one defeat, three draws, and ten wins, their record is flawless.
A glance at the statistics is enough to see that Viking’s strength lies in attack: they have scored 38 goals so far, 14 more than Bodo/Glimt, for example, with an average of almost three goals per game. The man in the spotlight is a midfielder who looks down on everyone else in both the goals (8) and assists (6) charts: we are talking about the Croatian-born Norwegian Zlatko Tripic, the real star of the first half of the season.
Held to a 1-1 draw by Rosenborg in the last round – Tripic was suspended – Viking should be back to winning ways against second-bottom Stromsgodset, extending their unbeaten run since March and picking up more points. The goal is to try to widen the gap over second-placed Brann, who face a potentially tricky away trip to HamKam. The Bergen side have been inconsistent recently, alternating between wins and defeats, and risk dropping points in Hamar.
Molde and Bodo/Glimt are also playing away from home: the blue and whites have lost three of their last five games and are unlikely to come away unscathed from Tromso against an opponent that has won six games in a row; On paper, the yellow and blacks have a less complicated task, as they need to beat Kristiansund to climb the table (they are currently fifth, 14 points behind Viking but with four games in hand over the leaders).
Eliteserien: possible winners
Valerenga or draw (in Valerenga-Fredrikstad)
Viking (in Viking-Stromsgodset)
Tromso or draw (in Tromso-Molde)
Matches with at least three goals in total
Viking-Stromsgodset
Kristiansund-Bodo/Glimt
Eliteserien: the match with at least one goal per team
HamKam-Brann
Odds comparison
The “1X” result in Tromso-Molde is quoted at 1.38 on Goldbet and Lottomatica and at 1.35 on Snai. The “Goal” result in HamKam-Brann is quoted at 1.58 on Goldbet and Lottomatica and at 1.55 on Snai.
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