After looking at the teams in the running for top honours in the Norwegian top flight earlier in the week, I now focus on the other end of table. I’ve not put up any tickers on these teams as frankly it’s a mess down there, and all results seem likely.
The Relegation Battle
The bottom two teams go straight down, while the third team from the bottom gets a chance at survival via the playoffs.
This one is tough to nail down. If we go by the spread for the top teams, we have a battle between every team from sixth place on down. Things are not quite that bad though, so we’ll look closer at the main teams vying for position, and do a quick rundown of the others. If anything, this just shows the league is far from predictable.
Below the line
Viking look certain to go down.
This out-of-luck team has struggled from day one and there does not seem to be any silver lining in sight.
After the sale of Adegbendro, people put their faith in Høiland for goals, with André Danielsen the one to provide assists. This has produced four goals in the last seven games for the striker, with Danielsen grabbing a quartet of assists in the last 10 games. However, this has not been good enough to help the team back on their feet, and as a result there is not much of a value for Fantasy managers among their ranks.
Out of position prospect Ryerson has also failed to deliver, having dropped from an attacking midfielder spot to what looks like a defensive midfielder position. In Fantasy terms this team is cold as ice and every game by default looks tough for them. My advice, stay away.
Next up on the docket is Tromsø.
This team is looking a bit better than Viking, but still on the lower edge. They shine through with some class performances before they again lose marginal games.
Fixtures for this team are always heavy on goals, making defensive options a no-go, but with some possibilities of punts in the midfield and forward positions.
While Bakenga is too expensive with his Rosenborg pricing, players such as Lehne Olsen and Åsen look just right for the money. Earlier options such as Sigurdarson and Ingebrigtsen have struggled with pitch-time, while Gamst Pedersen walks a tight line with brilliant assists in between a bucketload of hopeless involvements. Gamst may be the differential here though, as he has amassed five assists in his last four. At 5.1 and with a 3.4% ownership he can make a difference to some chasers.
While we have discounted defensive options, if you really want to go that route the Tromsø captain Wangberg is the hot choice, having netted five goals so far this season.
The Mosh Pit
Moving on, we look into a trio of teams with similar stats as we delve deeper into the ranks of Aalesund, Sogndal and Kristiansund.
Aalesund are equal on points with Tromsø, with Sogndal two points ahead and Kristiansund another two points up from that.
All of these have had highs and lows throughout the season, but have some surprising steady attacking performers with Mos (Aafk), Stoke (KBK) and Koomson (SOG) their main men. Of these, Stokke from KBK is the man currently on form and on fire though, with Mos picking up points at a slow and steady pace. Koomson is up in the top 10 for midfielders, but I’ll be damned if I can see why.
More surprising, each of these teams field a good option for keeper, with Dyngeland(SOG), Lie(Aafk) and McDermott(KBK). Somewhat the same story as with the forward options, the Sogndal-player is top of the charts, Aafk option just picking up slow and steady, but McDermott is truly on fire, sporting double-digit hauls in the last three games.
Kristiansand’s only tough game left is their away derby clash with Molde, which makes them favourites for survival. In contrast, Aalesund and Sogndal face some tougher fixtures going into the final six rounds.
While a KBK option is almost by default a differential, pay extra attention to up-and-coming 1% owned differential Torgil Gjertsen, scoring a brace last game to get him to four in as many games.
Squeezed in between Sogndal and Kristiansund, we find some household names of long standing in Norway in Lillestrøm and Vålerenga. These are teams with history and tradition in Norwegian football, and teams that one just expects to stay up and even be in the proximity of top honours.
While Lillestrøm were in the relegation-battle last season too, their form with coach Erlandsen at the helm was such that it is disappointing to see them still in that bracket, despite their impressive run in the cup (they’ve made the final). Out of position players Aleksander Melgavis and Simen Kind Mikalsen are the hot items in Lillestrøm with equal opportunity for clean sheets, goals and assists in their wide-midfield/winger spots either side just now. Knutzon has had a similar good run as an OoP midfielder turned striker, but has been cool in the last few games. A curious trivia, Lillestrøm hold the ongoing record for longest uninterrupted stay in the Norwegian top flight.
Vålerenga are the representatives from the nation’s capital, and have a lot of expectations to their name. A young squad and little identity has left them wandering in the dark this season, and as Fantasy-options they have been frustrating in the extreme. If they don’t see some immediate improvements in their coming double Gameweek, they may well be the other team to go straight down. With a shaky defence, look to the budget options currently prefered in the starting XI, Ejuke and Fridjonsson, to pick up the points. If you are looking at an ultra-differential, their striker-choice of late has been 0.3% owned, 6.2 priced striker Henrik Kjelsrud Johansen.
No Man’s land
At eight to ten points clear of the relegation line, we find four teams in the proverbial no man’s land with no real hopes of honour but not the greatest threat of relegation either. These teams will look to secure points wherever they can to lock in their placement and start looking towards next season. We are excited to see what kind of reactions these teams have once that lock is achieved though.
Odd have a reputation for being an attacking side and have been chasing Rosenborg for some seasons now. It is therefore a huge shock to see them as the lowest goal-scoring team of the league this term, and even more so when it is by a large margin as they trail even Viking by three goals. They have amassed points though, and have improved in the later games, largely due to a solid defensive line. Rossbach has been a good keeper option if on the expensive side, and at the side-backs Ruud and Grøgård have been the go-to options in defence. Look out for central defender Semb Berge, as well as the rising star Etzaz Hussain for the final six games.
Stabæk have the current front-runner for the top goalscorer title in Ohi. At 17 goals he is hard to ignore and is the most owned player of the game. Unfortunately he picked up an injury along with his brace last match, and is not expected back until Gameweek 28 at the earliest, if he figures again this season at all. This leaves many teams scrambling for another forward option. Luc Kassi is also out, for an indeterminate time, leaving Tonny Brochmann the viable choice in Stabæk’s midfield.
Strømsgodset are enjoying a good run of late and have an enticing fixture-list for the last six games. Their key targets are in midfield, with Jradi and Andersen. After some poor earlier performances it looks like their defenders are back on track for good returns. While Vilsvik is not yet up to old form Fantasy-wise, Glesnes and Parr have been dipping into the assist and bonus pools of late. Striker Marcus Pedersen has however been a headache for many, and while the second half of the season has seen him improve plenty, a 9.9 pricetag is a longshot in these final rounds.
Sandefjord defied all expert predictions and is sitting pretty mid-table. A bit here there and everywhere, they can win or lose any game. Striker Kastrati has been a steady man for goals in this team, but looks like he is currently losing his spot to new summer signing Facundo Rodríguez, who has played the full 90 in the last two matches and reduced Kastrati’s game time to mere cameos off the bench.
Another new face in the Sandefjord side this summer is in-form artiste midfielder Carlos Grossmüuller. The Uruguayan star has picked up three goals and an assist in his last four matches, quickly catching up to former midfield main man (and still a decent midfield option) Håvard Storbaek. In the back lines we find what was a very rewarding differential in the first half of the season, Abdoulaye Seck. The centre-back has not had a good run of late though, with the last decent point haul in Gameweek 13, and having served his first yellow card suspension last round. With Joachim Olsen Solberg out on suspension next round, that does not leave much in the way of enticing options at the back.
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.
