The weekend action in the Norwegian Eliteserien begins on Saturday evening as Stromgodset welcome Molde to the Marienlyst Stadion in Drammen.
This is an interesting game between a team in the relegation zone and the league leaders. Stromgodset find themselves in 15th position, just one place and 2 points off the bottom of the league. Molde on the other hand sit top of the table, 3 points clear of second place Odd.
Stromgodset come into this game on the back of two straight defeats. Last weekend they lost 2-0 at Bodo Glimt while the previous fixture saw them lose 1-0 at Ranheim. Those results mean Stromgodset have won only one of their last ten Eliteserien games and just two this season.
In fact, if you take a look back at their recent record in the league, Stromgodset have picked up just four wins from their last twenty-four league games, which is very poor form. Scoring goals has been the main issue and Stromgodset have failed to find the back of the net in four of their last five Eliteserien matches.
However, Stromgodset did manage to win their last home game which was against Tromso and they scored 3 goals in the process. That is their only home win in their last four attempts and Stromgodset have lost two and drawn one of the other three matches. Over 2.5 goals have been scored in five of their last six home league games.
Molde made a successful return to league action following a long break on Sunday as they defeated Ranheim 2-0 at home. It was an important win for Molde who signed off before the break with a 2-1 defeat at Tromso. That is their only loss in their last four matches in all competitions, which have seen wins over Viking and Ranheim at home plus Sunndal away in the cup.
League form shows Molde have won eight of their last twelve games this season, losing three. Two of those three defeats have come in their last four matches and both were away from home. However, Molde have lost only three of their last twenty Eliteserien matches and both teams have scored in eight of their last nine away league games.
Team news and Stromgodset are set to be without three players. Marcus Pedersen and Kristoffer Tokstad are not expected back until early July while Nicholas Mickelson is out for the season with an Achilles injury.
Molde also have a player struggling with an Achilles problem and Eirik Ulland Andersen is not expected to be back in action until October. Molde have two of the three top league goal scorers in their team and both Ohi Omoijuanfo and Magnus Wolff Eikrem are expected to start.
We should see plenty of goal scoring chances in this game with the possibility of both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals. However, Molde are the much stronger team and should come out on top.