Norwegian top flight game Fantasy Eliteserien will be entering the final six rounds of the season following the international break. During this home stretch the game will include the season’s final double Gameweek.
In this preview we’ll dig just a little deeper, looking at the players to target as well as those to ignore. I’ll start off looking at the top teams and their battle for honours.
The Hunt for Europe
Norwegian football has four european qualifier slots (one Champions League qualification, three Europa League qualification), given to the cup-winner and the top three teams in the league. Sarpsborg 08 join Lillestrøm in the cup-final, and should they win that and at the same time keep a top three spot, the last ticket falls to fourth position in the league. With that in mind, let’s look at what’s cooking in the upper quadrant:
Rosenborg look sure to take home the gold for the third consecutive season, staying nine points clear at the top and with what looks like vanilla fixtures finishing off the season, save for an away-trip to Bergen facing an out of form Brann. Leading on the charge, Lord Bendtner has proven he still can, and is relentlessly chasing the top-scoring title trailing Stabæk’s Ohi by only three goals with an impressive 10 goals in the last 10 games in the league. The Ajax fans said it best when they were knocked out of europe: “We’re getting knocked out by a meme”. European mid-week games have made the rest of the team prone to rotation though, with right-back Hedenstad, midfield captain Jensen, and goalie Hansen the only others really close to nailed on. Some exciting options all around in the team, but the rotation-risk has made investing in any but those four a risk-management chore. Star players that may be worth a punt are Pål Andre Helland and Samuel Adegbendro, wingers with a lot of goalscoring potential if they play.
Rosenborg’s final six: Tromsø(A), Brann(A), Stabæk(H), Aalesund(A), Viking(H), Odd(A)
Speaking of Brann, despite their battle in the top, they are a team totally out of form at the moment, having suffered huge squad problems with injuries and suspensions to some key players and most notably in their central defence and wide attack. Carrying the team in the rough patch, central midfielder Haugen has picked up 34 points in the last five and seems one of few stable options of late. Another top points man, Rolantsson picked up the majority of his points in the first half of the season, and has a run of 27 in the last five, thanks to a goal and clean sheet in Gameweek 19, so he looks unlikely to be the option going into the final six games. Keeper Leciejewski has mostly been a solid choice this season, but with no defenders left even he has struggled of late, and with big man Braaten out injured there are just too many questions with this Brann team at the moment, especially considering they have Rosenborg(H), Molde(A) and Strømsgodset(A) as 3 of their final 6. Some differential choices are Vega, Nouri and Kristiansen.
Brann’s final six: Molde(A), Rosenborg(H), Haugesund(A), Lillestrøm(H), Strømsgodset(A), Tromsø(H)
Molde were the team expected to really challenge Rosenborg this season, but have had a bumpy ride along the way. They are still one of the stronger teams of the league, and sport one of the more prolific goalscorers in Björn Bergman Sigurdarson. At 13 goals he is right there chasing Ohi and Bendtner. New man on the block, Ellingsen, also has a rising star with two goals and an assist in the last five. The rest of the Molde team would have some exciting prospects for fantasy too, but coach Solskjær is notorious for rotations and early subs, making the choices hard to pin down. Linde(GK), Gregersen(DF) and Strand(MF) seem the most likely options though, and Molde are the in-form team chasing that european spot with the closest rivals Brann and Sarpsborg still to play at home for them. Worth looking into options here.
Molde’s final six: Brann(H), Haugesund(H), Vålerenga(A), Kristiansund(H), Lillestrøm(A), Sarpsborg 08(H)
Sarpsborg 08 are a surprise team this season. Expected to be upper half, but not really in the running for top places, they were for a long long time the only real competition keeping pace with Rosenborg. Things have evened out, and they now join the other teams in the tight-packed field chasing points for the top three spot, having a disastrous drop while rotating their squad looking for that cup final spot. They are still in the running though, and do have two possibilities for that golden ticket to europe. Early in the season this team was frustrating, with the points spreading evenly across the entire team. As they passed the halfway-mark one man really stepped up though, with Krepin Diatta the main man in the Sarpsborg offence. This is a must-have option in the final six games, with Molde in the final gameweek the only really hard fixture on the books. Mortensen is a decent striker option for a double-up, while defensive giant Rosted looks a cooled off prospect, having only 12 points in the last give gameweeks. He is also close to a yellow card suspension.
Sarpsborg 08’s final 6: Stabæk(H), Sogndal(A), Sandefjord(H), Viking(A), Aalesund(H), Molde(A)
Finally, a quiet dark horse has emerged as FK Haugesund are lurking at the fringes of this top battle. Key to this team has been defensive stability as they don’t have much in the way of goalscorers. Despite this they could, with wins in the DGW, be right along the side of the other teams vying for top thee spots. The likes of defenders Stølås, Skjerve and Knudsen in front of keeper Bråtveit are the heroes of this saga, and are the hot targets for the DGW buildup. If they pick up the wins there, they are in for a fight, with the following three games against Molde, Brann and an in form Strømsgodset. Not a likely candidate for the top spots, but one can’t discount them completely, and their defence is always a fantasy option.
FK Haugesund’s final 7(!): Vålerenga(A), Sandefjord(H), Molde(A), Brann(H), Strømsgodset(H), Tromsø(A), Kristiansund(H)
The Golden Boot Race
In addition to the afore mentioned Bendtner and Sigurdarsson, there are a few other strikers sniffing at the golden boot for the season. The candidates still running are:
Ohikhuaeme “Ohi” Omoijuanfo – Stabæk – 17 goals so far and the front runner at the moment, picked up a brace along with a knock this weekend and worth monitoring his recovery over the international break.
Mostafa “Mos” Abdellaoue – Aalesund – 12 goals so far, second highest goalscorer of last season and still in the running in this one. His main source of late has been penalties, but he is a true fox-in-the-box and is likely to keep pace a bit longer too.
Benjamin Stokke – Kristiansund – 10 goals so far, and an emerging dark horse. He has a lot of ground to cover, but has shown himself capable of braces and hat-tricks and could be a factor.
That’s it for the look up top, stay tuned for part two later in the week.
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.
