Posted:
#1
# Fredrikstad vs Haugesund
Fredrikstad is coming off a loss in the Norwegian Cup after PK's against 2. division team Kvik-Halden (level 3), resulting in their coach Aune quiting the post with immediate effect as he said he's lost motivation and couldn't see how he could turn things around after a bad start to the season.
Before the cup loss, FFK fell behind 0-3 to VIF after just 12 min (you could easily see the quality difference between them) before VIF went into cruse mode, almost resulting in giving away the big lead.
To start the year, FFK is just a single point clear of relegation after opening with a dissapointing 1-2-4 record.
The lone win came at home against "as good as relegated" Stabæk who isn't near the top division level after all the economy troubles, resulting in losing almost the whole squad from last year and the 2 draws came at newly promoted Hønefoss (where they got dominated for the most part) and on the road against Odd.
At home they've so far won against previous mentioned Stabæk in the home opener before losing to newly promoted Sandnes Ulf and another loss against RBK.
Their injury list doesn't look to good either heading into this one with both their DC's in Dure and Horn out along with almost the whole midfield as both Holm, Rafn and Ramberg is out with injuries while Hussain is out for this one after getting sendt off in their last league match.
Meanwhile, it looks like Haugesund gonna take another step in the right direction this year after starting the season with a 3-3-1 record after a tough starting schedule.
So far, FKH have meet last years league winners Molde (2-0 win at home), a title contender in VIF on the road (1-2 loss after leading to HT), one of this years big title contender and league leaders Strømsgodset on the road (Godset is 24-6-4 at home dating back to the 2010 season) where they managed a strong 3-3 draw and a tough road match against Sogndal where they also managed a draw.
On the injury side, Pozniak is realy the only one worth mention, but it's not a big loss by any means when it comes to the starting 11.
Anything less than a draw for FKH would be dissapointing here and I favour them to take all 3 pts back home.
Fredrikstad 1 Haugesund 3
# Aalesund vs Strømsgodset
AaFK was hoping this was the year when they would take the next step, but as always, they struggle in front of goal and didn't get any stronger up front this off-season either.
A good example of their struggles is their two cup matches so far where they'v won both by the score of 1-0 against Herd who is playing on the 3rd level in Norway and Skarbøvik who is playing on the 4th level.
In the league, AaFK have scored only 7 goals in as many matches with 4 of them coming in their 3 home matches where they got a 1-2-0 record.
For this one, strikers Selin and James is out while their key defender and in my opinion their best player so far in Arnefjord is out with suspension. Also, their coach Rekdal got sendt off in the final minutes in the local derby against Molde so their assistant coach will lead them in this one.
Strømsgodset have looked like title favourits so far this season with a 5-1-1 record in their first 7 matches and is coming off a match where they outplayed then 2nd placed Sogndal from start to end as they won 3-0 without ever beeing threatened.
On the road, the lone loss came against last years league winners Molde (won all their home matches this season) in the season opener while winning both of their other two against Brann and Lillestrøm.
Including the cup, Godset have now won 6 in a row and with no new injury concerns I expect them to get at least a point here.
Also worth mentioning -- usualy AaFK have the advantage of playing on turf at home as most of the teams play on natural grass, but Godset also have turf on their home field so no advantage in that for this one
AaFK 0 Strømsgodset 1
# Haugesund Win/Strømsgodset Win (+732) $50.00 to win $366.00
# Haugesund NTL/Strømsgodset NTL (+155) $200.00 to win $310.00
0
Hot Forum Topics
