Attacking returns were thin on the ground in Gameweek 7, which featured eight clean sheets and only four goals in Sunday’s six games. Fantasy Eliteserien managers will be hoping the next set of fixtures produces more excitement.
Gameweek 8
Rosenborg – Ranheim
(Saturday, 5:00 P.M.)
Rosenborg continued their trend of being solid at the back but poor going forward. Although with kind fixtures, it could be time to invest in Rosenborg players. Defensive additions still look like the best bet, with Vegar Eggen Hedenstad at 7.1 and Tore Reginiussen at 6.8 the prime options. Even Hovland at 6.0 looks like a cheap way into the Rosenborg backline, which hasn’t conceded since he signed. His recent rock solid performance against Stromsgodset earned him two bonus.
Meanwhile Ranheim continue to impress, with both Kristoffer Løkberg and Erik Tønne scoring a goal each. As mentioned in previous articles, Tønne looks like a key man to Ranheim’s attack from his left wing position despite being a 4.7 defender in the game. There is no argument for not having him in your squad, and he’s definitely a player that might punish you if you bench him.
Bodø/Glimt – Strømsgodset
(Sunday, 5:00 P.M.)
Bodø/Glimt had a chance to end their dreadful run after winning a penalty right before the end away to Sarpsborg, but Kristian Fardal Opseth failed to convert it. With tough fixtures on the horizon we think there’s more value to be found elsewhere.
Strømsgodset players have suffered two 1-0 defeats, so it will be interesting to see if they can bounce back here.
Kristiansund – Stabæk
(Sunday, 5:00 P.M.)
Kristiansund managed a strong 0-0 away to Tromsø last week, with a big performance from goalkeeper Sean McDermott for 10 points. The former Arsenal youth player is definitely a good pick if you’re looking for a solid stopper this week. Kristiansund also serve up strong budget options in Benjamin Stokke, Daouda Bamba and Stian Aasmundsen. Stokke scored a hattrick in the cup midweek, but surprisingly wasn’t the penalty taker when they won a spot kick.
Stabæk managed their first win of the season with Ola Brynhildsen grabbing the headlines with a brace. The teenager is probably the breakthrough player so far this season, and looks like a major value pick at 4.9. Ohi Omoijuanfo also scored a goal, his fourth in seven games, and got two bonus. However, popular budget pick Daniel Granli seems to have lost his place in the starting XI.
Lillestrøm – Sandefjord
(Sunday, 5:00 P.M.)
Lillestrøm continued their disappointing form this season with another loss, and are now in the relegation zone. Despite the poor team form, Erling Knudtzon looks threatening from his left wing position, and got an assist and one bonus point last time out. He’s been consistently picking up points, and seems like a good selection despite his 8.6 price tag.
Sandefjord are also in the doldrums, with a 0-1 loss to Brann at home, and a loss to a third tier side in the cup. We fail to see any players worth keeping here, with Flamur Kastrati probably the only exception. The Kosovan looks like a decent budget pick up front, although we’re favouring other budget options over him.
Odd – Start
(Sunday, 5:00 P.M.)
Odd had an impressive away victory to a struggling Molde side last week, with both centre-backs and Sondre Rossbach getting bonus, much like last season. We may be seeing a resurgence of their strong defensive form from last season, although tapping into that may be costly. Since value option John Kitolano was dropped from the lineup, all defensive options are 5.3 or more. It is also worth noting that Elba Rashani continued his fine form by hitting the bar.
Start had another disappointing defeat at home against Haugesund, despite creating way more chances. Kristjan Floki Finnbogason should have scored, he had a couple of chances and hit the woodwork twice. It’s definitely time to look elsewhere if you still own Start asset, although we can’t rule out Floki finding the net soon as he has decent underlying stats. Despite the poor defensive form, Elliot Käck could be worth keeping. The full back has no clean sheets so far, but has looked very dangerous going forward and always looks likely to deliver attacking returns. He scored and assisted midweek in Norway’s cup.
Vålerenga – Haugesund
(Sunday, 5:00 P.M.)
Sam Johnson had another big week for Vålerenga netting two times. He’s now scored five times in seven games, and is chasing Marcus Pedersen for the top scorer title. He’s been looking very dangerous in general and is definitely a good pick up front. Chidera Ejuke is the other standout pick from Vålerenga, scoring two goals, assisting one and picking up eight bonus points so far.
After four games with returns in a row, David Akintola blanked in the away win against Start. He was a bit hot and cold in that game, but still looks like a great value pick as he’s one of the key attackers in the Haugesund side. Frederik Gytkjær scored another goal, and proved he’s a decent picked as a third striker. It’s also worth noting that Christian Grindheim picked up bonus points without attacking returns for the third time this season.
Brann – Tromsø
(Sunday, 7:00 P.M.)
Brann defenders continued to prove their value by keeping another clean sheet. It was a rather average performance from Brann away to Sandefjord, but they did enough to win. They were clearly suffering from the lack of Fredrik Haugen in midfield, but Gilbert Koomson stepped up in the second half and provided an assist in a man-of-the-match performance. Koomson has definitely upped his game the last two games and is showing why he was such a popular pre-season pick.
Gjermund Åsen left those who handed him the armband disappointed when he had to leave with an injury after 15 minutes against Kristiansand last time out. Without their key man, Tromsø struggled to break down Kristiansund. Åsen will miss the game against Brann, and we can’t see them get anything here without their key attacker. Tromsø are hopeful he’ll be fit for the following Gameweek. Nilsen continued his good attacking form and had an assist ruled out after a marginal offside decision.
Sarpsborg – Molde
(Monday, 6:00 P.M.)
Patrick Mortensen let down a number of new owners after he failed to convert a few good chances in the game, while Aslak Falch rewarded his owners with 15 points after a late penalty save and maximum bonus points. The goalkeeper seems to have nailed down the starting spot in the Sarpsborg team after a few big performances and should be worth an investment at 4.8. Sarpsborg defenders as well are worth selecting, especially as fixtures improve.
Molde have had a big drop in form the last few weeks and topped it off by going out in the cup, against a newly promoted third tier side and despite fielding a fairly strong line up. We fail to see any good options in the team beside Andreas Linde in goal. The threat of rotation and poor form continue to dog their outfield options.
Leke James – the new premium striker?
Molde signed a new striker, Leke James, last weekend. He’s a 25 year old Nigerian striker that played four season for Aalesund in Eliteserien from 2012-2015 and was one of the league’s major strikers. In his last three season at Aalesund, Leke James scored 10+ goals, before heading to the Chinese second tier and scoring 13 goals in 24 games for Beijing Enterprises in 2016. I’m not sure what happened in 2017, but he was released after playing only two games. Now he’s signed on a free transfer for Molde. He’s been priced at 8.5 and is definitely one to monitor. He has the potential to become a strong Fantasy asset if he can find the same form he had before he left the league.
I’d be careful with getting him straight in, as he’s not been playing a lot of football lately and has to displace the supertalent Erling Braut Håland up front for Molde. Braut Håland is very likely to move to a much bigger club during the summer, and is part of the reason why Molde signed Leke James now. The other reason is obviously because the other strikers have not lived up to expectations so far.
Scout Picks
We’ve started tracking our scout picks score, but please note that we did not have scout picks for Gameweek 1 and Gameweek 6.
Niemi’s picks for Gameweek 8 (Score: 292)
Rossbach
Hedenstad – Rolantsson – Wormgoor – Hovland
Koomson – Knudtzon – Ejuke – Akintola
Søderlund – Johnson (K)
MrKlin’s picks for Gameweek 8 (Score: 245)
Sahin-Radlinger
Wormgoor – Teniste – Reginiussen – Rafn
Knudtzon(K) – Rashani – Aasmundsen – Akintola
Søderlund – Pedersen
