Fantasy Eliteserien – Gameweek 20 Preview

This Gameweek will be the last ahead of another three week break, which involves Cup quarter finals and international matches.

The Norwegian transfer window closed this week(August 16th), although players can still be sold abroad so we’ll have to wait another two weeks before we know who stays for sure.

STOCK CHECK

Rising 

Samuel Adegbenro (7.9, Rosenborg, midfielder)

One of the best Fantasy picks this season just got even better. A big move from Viking to Rosenborg could see his returns get even bigger and more consistent.

He faces more competition for a starting spot, but he do have an x-factor that other Rosenborg wingers doesn’t have (at least based on this year’s form). He’s been included in Rosenborg’s squad against Ajax in the Europa League tonight. If he starts  it could have an impact on his minutes on Sunday.

Krepin Diatta (5.6, Sarpsborg, midfielder)

Probably the hottest player in Eliteserien right now. He was a popular pick in pre-season, but hasn’t settled in until now mainly because of international duty – he’s  been away for U20 African Cup of Nations, as well as the U20 World Cup.

The last three games he’s been tearing opposition defences apart. A goal and an assist last time out, as well as a goal against Odd in the cup and an assist against Haugesund have made him a popular pick recently. In addition, the experts have awarded him five bonus points in the last two.

He’s been close to a move to bigger clubs twice this summer, but currently it looks like he stays for the season at least.

Nicklas Bendtner (12.2, Rosenborg, forward)

The lord Bendtner has finally started doing what we expected him to do at the start of the season.

Five goals in the last five, as well as maximum bonus points in the last two, brings him back into our thinking. As most other Rosenborg players, he could be a risk this week as they face Ajax tonight in the Europa League.

Joachim Olsen Solberg (4.7, Sandefjord, defender)

Seck who? The Seck bandwagon early on has probably not done Olsen Solberg any favours. As a lot of us already own Seck and have been reluctant to sign up for a  Sandefjord double up. But lately Holberg has shown himself as a better option than Seck, delivering attacking returns in each of the last four games, including two goals and two assist – mostly due to his deadly set-pieces.

Patrick Mortensen (7.5, Sarpsborg, forward)

Mortensen has slowly been coming back into our thoughts. Three goals in the last four means he’s now scored as many as Bendtner this season, a total of nine goals.

Ohi Omoijuanfo (7.8, Stabæk, forward)

He continues to score regulary and is Eliteserien’s topscorer with 13 goals in 19. He missed a penalty recently in his only blank in the last four.

Espen Bugge Pettersen (4.8, Strømsgodset, goalkeeper)

Two clean sheets, one assist and four bonus points in the last three means Bugge Pettersen is the last one on the rising list. A tally of 23 points in the last three has surely made his 1.3% ownership happy.

Falling

Tore Reginiussen (6.2, Rosenborg, defender)

What looked like a minor injury has kept him out of the last two games. Put in Rosenborg’s poor defensive form and you’ve got the most transfered out player this week.

Daniel Braaten (6.9, Brann, midfielder)

Much like Reginiussen, what looked like a minor injury has now kept him out of four games in a row. Brann have been looking really dire without him.

Piotr Liecjewski (5.3, Brann, goalkeeper)

Another pick who’s been out with a small injury for three games in a row. There’s been a lot of transfer speculation around him as well, but it looks like he’s staying now at least.

Amin Nouri (5.9, Brann, defender)

One of the hottest defenders in the game a few weeks back is now out of favour. He’s rejected a new contract and is leaving Brann at the end of the season. Brann has decided to give Jonsson the nod instead, as well as signing Teniste from Sogndal on a pre-contract for next season.

Milan Jevtovic (8.6, Rosenborg, midfielder)

Jevtovic has been up and down all season, but the arrival of Adegbenro probably means he won’t start every match from now (as long as everyones fit). He’ll surely get a lot of game time, but definitely not a sure starter anymore.

Fredrik Haugen (10.1, Brann, midfielder)

Just a single assist in the last five is way less than you expect from one of the most expensive players in the game. Definitely not in the same form as he was at the start of the season.

Tonny Brochmann (7.1, Stabæk, midfielder)

Six blanks in the last seven have seen his ownership drop a lot. Another one who’s not as red hot as he was a few weeks ago.

Mos (8.8, Aalesund, forward)

Mos is a hard one. He has blanked in his last four starts, but scored two goals in a 21 minute cameo against Brann. At that price you’d expect more, but he’s still one of the top scorers in the league.

Bjørn Bergmann Sigurdarson (10.2, Molde, forward)

After a great run of games with very few blanks, he’s now blanked three games in a row. Just when we though we had a reliable captaincy pick, he proved us wrong. With decent fixtures coming up hopefully he’ll return to form.

DIFFERENTIALS FOR GAMEWEEK 20

Krepin Diatta (5.6, Sarpsborg, midfielder)

Not much more to be said. He’s a level above most players in Eliteserien, low priced and low ownership (4.4%). He’s the ultimate differential this week.

Julian Ryerson (4.3, Viking, defender)

Viking had to fit in some new arrivals, which ment Ryerson was pushed forward to an attacking role last week. With the departure of Samuel Adegbenro I expect him to stay in an attacking role and give us a great, cheap out of position option. Viking have signed three new defenders (and eight players in total) this window, so it remains to see how much of impact the new signings will have. 8.4% ownership, but I’m pretty sure a lot of his ownership come from dead teams as he was a popular pick in pre season and the first few gameweeks.

Mushaga Bakenga (9.9, Tromsø, forward)

A deadline day move should mean regular minutes for Mushaga Bakenga. His price is too high for his potential in my opinion, but I fancy a debut goal against Aalesund.

NEW SIGNINGS

As mentioned the transfer window closed last night and I’ll do a short round-up of the transfers that has happened since the last article.

Rosenborg have made the most high profile transfers, as they’ve added both Anders Trondsen and Samuel Adegbenro to their squad. A lot of managers now are probably sitting with four or maybe five Rosenborg players in their squad, which means they have to sell one or two of them before doing any other moves. Mushaga Bakenga has left for Tromsø and Elba Rashanifor Odd. Fredrik Midtsjø remains a Rosenborg player, but a move to AZ Alkmaar still looks likely.

Sarpsborg have signed Danish player Nikolai Paulsen from Randers as a replacement for Trondsen. They have also signed winger Rashad Muhammed from Florø.

Brann made a deadline day move for Dutch winger Ludcinio Marengo, while Steffen Lie Skålevik went out on loan to second tier club Start.

Molde have also strengthened their squads, signing Mathias Normann on loan from Brighton, Martin Ellingsen from Kongsvinger and winger Ibrahima Wadji. Sander Svendsen have left for Swedish club Hammarsby and Etzaz Hussain went on loan to Odd.

Haugesund signed centre back Marko Cosic and defensive midfielder Aleksandar Kovacevic. 

Stabæk signed Chinese midfielder Hongliang Too, striker Rubio Rubin and experienced keeper John Alvbage, while Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was released.

Strømsgodset replaced backup keeper Sosha Makani with Pål-Vestly Heigre from Aalesund. Aalesund replaced Heigre with Jan Urke. They also signed centre back Tero Mäntylä. 

Odd have signed Etzaz Hussain on loan as mentioned, as well as Elba Rashani from Rosenborg. Vålerenga sold their backup keeper Aslak Falch. 

Lillestrøm have added another young Nigerian in Moses Ebiye, while Bajram Ajeti has left the club.

Sogndal added winger Stanisa Mandic and centre back Mohamed Didé Fofana to their squad, while Kristiansund have added experienced midfielder Magne Hoseth. 

Viking have added experienced centre back Andreas Nordvik to their squad, as well as the lost talent George Green. As mentioned a couple of time Samuel Adegbenro has left the club.

Tromsø added striker Mushaga Bakenga and Anzhi midfielder Shamil Gasanov in the final days of the window.

KEY LINKS

WhoScored – Results, table, detailed player and team stats.

Twitter account for a Norwegian Eliteserien Fantasy show. Normally offers some insight (although it’s in Norwegian)

Official source for lineups, normally 1hr 15m before kick off.

Interesting blog where clean sheet and goal scoring odds are posted before every Gameweek.

Fixture ticker.