Nordic Football News

Slap on a facemask, stock up on tamiflu and come this way for an all coughing, all sniffling preview of the 6th round of the Tippeliga..

Saturday

Aalesund (5th) – Molde (2nd)

One of the fiercest rivalries in the league, this encounter has been given some extra gloss because of the fact that both teams are riding uncharacteristically high in the table. 

Manager Kjell Jonevret however claims that Molde are’t too fussed with the whole rivalry-thing, telling the press that “Molde have had top-flight football for many, many years. Aalesund haven’t. For us the little brother/big brother-duel has died down a bit. I think Molde feel more hatred towards other clubs than Aalesund”. He would have sounded somewhat more believable if he had managed to get through the interview without having a cheeky dig at Aalesund, but sure, no rivalry here, no siree. 

Home win.

Sunday

Stabæk (12th) – Lyn (11th)

Lyn, representing Oslo’s posh west side, versus Stabæk, representing Oslo’s even posher suburb slightly further to the west. There will be more cardigans, polo shirts and vaguely convincing tans inside Telenor Arena than at your average yachting-convetion. Telenor Arena will also be a ground fraught with worry and woe, as the global economic slowdown is bad news for fans in the crowd while a dramatic slowdown in points-accumulation is bad news for the players on the pitch. 

Draw.

Vålerenga (13th) – Start (3rd)

Superb Start roll ever onwards, and this weekend it’s mad Martin’s Vålerenga who are about to be put to the sword. Norwegians have gone a bit bonkers for Bolanos after that goal last round, especially his agent Jan Schifloe who reckons the man Start bought for 4,5 million NOK this winter is now worth about 25 million. “He’s not for sale, full stop”, says Start’s sporting director Svein Mathisen, who has either forgotten what Start’s budget this season looks like or is trying to drive the up.

Away win.

Sandefjord (6th) – Strømsgodset (14th)

Is this the least interesting tie of the season? Very possibly. 

Home win.

Viking (8th) – Bodø/Glimt (15th)

Picking up on the fact that the combination of awful football and unreasonable ticket-prices is about as attractive to the masses as a Mexican with a cough, Viking have decided to give away 4000 free tickets for what should be a fairly routine win over Bodø/Glimt. Surprisingly, all 4000 were snapped up by a freebie-loving public, who can look forward to 90 minutes of midfielders randomly kicking the ball into the stands and Peter Ijeh trundling along doing nothing in particular. Still, given Bodø/Glimt’s recent forum, the hosts will probably win it in the end.

Home win.

Tromsø (10th) – Odd Grenland (4th) 

A funny old team, Tromsø. Last year they had one of the meanest defenses around, they held on to all of their players in the winter transfer-window, but seven games into this season no Tippeliga-side have conceded more goals than Tromsø. Make sense of that if you can. Here they have to deal with giant Hungarian Peter Kovacs, who has been strangely prolific so far this season, and they’ll have to do it without Tore Reginiussen whose bogus sending off last weekend was inexplicably sustained by the appeals-committee. 

Draw.

Rosenborg (1st) – Fredrikstad (9th)

Only Lyn and Strømsgodset have scored fewer goals than Fredrikstad this season, and no one have scored more than Rosenborg. It should be an open and shut case, but then football is thankfully not all about the stats. Rosenborg haven’t been fantastic at home so far, and they particularly struggle against teams who sit deep and soak up pressure, something Fredrikstad are really rather good at. Could be an interesting game this.

Draw.