Rosenborg will look to climb up into third position in the Eliteserien table on Friday night as they face a tricky trip to sixth-placed Sarpsborg.
Rosenborg put a halt to their four-match winless run in the Eliteserien last time out, as they won 2-0 at home to struggling HamKam on a day where our man Vladimir landed a couple of nicely-priced winners.
Whilst Alfred Johansson’s men remain unbeaten on home soil, they have found things more difficult on their travels, winning just one of their previous five away matches (W1-D1-L3), losing three of their last four.
Sarpsborg saw their two-match winning run in the Eliteserien come to an end last time out, as they were head to a goalless draw away at ninth-placed Kristiansund.
Nevertheless, Christian Michelsen’s hosts are still in the midst of a five-game unbeaten run in the Eliteserien, which includes an impressive league win away at champions Bodo/Glimt.
However, the Norwegian Football Cup finalists have only won twice at home this season – against HamKam (14th) and Haugesund (16th) – with both of their Eliteserien defeats coming on home soil (W2-D2-L2).
How the bookies view it: Tough one to call
According to the bookmakers, this match is a tough one to call, with BoyleSports making Rosenborg slight 5/4 favourites to claim all three points.
Rosenborg are 6/4 with the same firm to grab the win, whilst the draw is 5/2.
Head to head: Seven unbeaten for Sarpsborg
This is a fixture Sarpsborg have had plenty of success in in recent seasons, as they are unbeaten in each of their previous seven meetings with Rosenborg (W4-D3-L0), including knocking them out of the quarter-finals of the Norwegian Football Cup on penalties just last month.
Players to watch: More delight in front of goal for Daniel?
Sarpsborg’s leading marksman this season, Daniel Karlsbakk, has fired in 10 goals already in the Eliteserien this term. That includes four goals in his previous two appearances at home, including a hat trick against Haugesund in their last home match, and is an appealing 9/5 to net at Unibet.
Dino Islamovic has scored in two of his past three appearances for the record-Norwegian champions, including the second from the spot against HamKam last time out, and is 19/10 at Unibet to get on the scoresheet once again.
Predicted line-ups:
Christen Michelsen will be unable to call upon the likes of Carljohan Eriksson, Anders Hiim, Aimar Sher and Frederik Carstensen.
Rosenborg will be once again without Sverre Nypan and Noah Sahsah due to injury, whilst defender Erland Dahl Retina was forced off just before halftime in their victory at home to HamKam last time out.
Sarpsborg 08: Ndiaye, Wichne, Koch, Uchenna, Jeahze, Halvorsen, Christiansen, Sanyang, Tangen, Orjasaeter, Karlsbakk
Rosenborg: Tangvik, Witry, Racic, Nemcik, Pereira, Vaananen, Selnaes, Zeidan, Holm, Ceide, Islamovic
Anything else catch the eye?
As alluded to, this is a fixture Sarpsborg have dominated in recent seasons, as they are unbeaten in each of their last seven meetings with the record Norwegian champions.
Christian Michelsen’s hosts have scored 2+ goals in five of their last six against Rosenberg – including in each of their previous two at home (4-1 & 5-2) – and I like the look of them to bag another double, which pays 5/6 at BoyleSports.
Both Teams to Score has also been a winning selection in 10 of the past 12 meetings between the sides, with Over 2.5 Goals also landing in five of the last six and eight of the previous 11, so combining both pays 4/5 at Bet365 and is worth a shout.
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