I start my preview by looking at defending champions Molde, who ended Rosenborg's four year grip on the league with a convincing title win last season.
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| Aker Stadion |
Before the start of the 2019 season, Molde had their plans interrupted when Ole Gunnar Solskjær was given the Manchester United job. This meant a change of manager, as Erling Moe was promoted from first team coach to take charge of the team as caretaker, before being given the role permanently as the season got under way.
The success of the team was immediate, as they took the league by storm, winning eventually by 14 points, going the whole season unbeaten at home. It was their first title since 2015, and their fourth in total, all coming since 2011.
Historically Molde have been the nearly men in Norway, consistently finishing in second place behind Rosenborg throughout the 80's and 90's, but now they are showing themselves to be a real challenger to the Trondheim club, thanks mainly to the backing of Norwegian billionaire, and club owner, Kjell Inge Røkke.
They finished last season with the best attack and defense in the league, scoring 72 goals and conceding 31 in the 30 game season. Goals and assists came from all over the park, and with the squad looking largely the same as last season, they will go in as favourites to retain their title.
Key Players - Molde have quality all over the park, and particularly in attacking areas.
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| Magnus Wolff Eikrem |
Molde tend to play with inverted wingers, the left footed Eirik Hestad on the right, and the right footed Ohi Omoijuanfo on the left.
Hestad was the joint top assister in Norway last season with 11, he also contributed four goals, but there is no doubt he is the more creative of the front three. At 24 years old he has been a big player for Molde the last two years, and he will again play an important role in 2020.
Omoijunafro was signed from Stabæk last winter, and he had an excellent debut season with 15 goals. He first broke on to the scene as a 17 year old with Lillestrøm in 2011. But it wasn't really until he came back to the Eliteserie with Stabæk that he found his feet at this level.
A 17 goal season with them in 2017 put him on the radar for bigger clubs, and Molde took a chance a year later and it paid off handsomely last year. The tall Norwegian is quick once he gets going and causes trouble in behind the defenders as well as being a big aerial threat at the back post.
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| Leke James |
He is strong and relatively quick, and at 27, this was his best ever goal scoring season. Before a short stint in Beijing, James had been at Aalesund, where he had reached double figures in goals in his three full seasons at this level. So it was no surprise to see him being successful with better players around him at Molde.
One big loss for the club was Ruben Gabrielsen joining Toulouse over the winter. The club captain and central defender ended a six year spell at the club, which leaves a gap in central defense. Eikrem has taken over the captaincy, but it will be interesting to see who takes over in defense.
Martin Bjørnbak is still there, he played nearly every game in 2019, and they have signed young defender John Kitolano on loan from Wolves. Kitolano is more of a left back, but it is possible he can play left centre back.
There is no doubt Molde go in as favorites for the 2020 season, and with the same attacking foursome that they had last season, they will be good to watch and will score plenty goals.
Prediction - 1st
First Fixture - Vålerenga (a) 4/4/2020
2019 was an excellent year for Viking, as they won the Norwegian Cup for the first time since 2001, the 6th time in their history.
From the city of Stavanger in the West of Norway, Viking are historically one of the biggest clubs in the country. They have only ever played outside the top flight in three previous seasons, and have won it on eight occasions.
Home games are played at the 15'900 seater, Viking Stadion, which was built in 2004.
Last season cup success, along with a 5th placed league finish was their best season in many years, and given they haven't won the league since 1982, it is clear a cup success is their best chance of a trophy.
Unfortunately for Viking, their two best players last season have both moved on this winter, and they will have to find new players to get them goals and create chances.
As mentioned in the previous edition, Kristian Thorstvedt has moved on to Genk, meanwhile Croatian born Norwegian youth international, Zlatko Tripic has earned himself a move to Turkey with Goztepe.
Tripic was the match winner in the cup final, the winger winning and scoring the penalty in December against Haugesund, while Thorstvedt was the top scorer for the club from midfield.
Replacements have been signed, thanks to the €2m brought in in transfer fees for Tripic and Thorstvedt, but they will be hard to replace.
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| De Lanlay re-signs for Viking |
His spell at Rosenborg was mostlry frustrating, seeing him on the bench regularly, throughout his five years in Trondheim. The five time capped international has a point to prove going back to Viking, and he will be one of a number of players that they will look to score the goals they have lost in the winter.
De Lanlay can play on either wing, and will likely be used on the left to replace Tripic.
On the other side, Kosovan international(capped once), Zymer Bytyqi, will be entering his 6th season with the club. The winger has never been prolific, only 13 goals in 153 appearances, so he will need to step up his output this year.
Tommy Høiland was the main striker last year for the club, scoring 10 goals, eight of them in the league. He was prolific in the tier below, but has never scored double figures in all his years in the top division.
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| Veton Berisha |
He returned to Norway with Brann last season, but a disappointing return of three league goals was not what the side from Bergen were looking for. However, Viking have decided to spend NOK 6.5m (about £500k) to bring him back to Stavanger.
Ever since 2015 he has never really been in the goals, but I am backing him to find his feet again at Viking and score double figures in the league this season.
The final player to look at is another one time capped Kosovan, Ylldren Ibrahimaj. The 24 year old midfielder played his first full season last year, after a summer 2018 move from Mjøndalen.
A creative central midfielder, he was joint top of the assist charts last year, and will be the one they look to in midfield to make things happen.
It is a huge blow for Viking to lose their two best players from last season, and the players they have brought in probably don't quite have the same quality. Another cup run, plus Europa League later in the year will be a welcome distraction for the club, but they want to be pushing to get in to the top 4, but I think they will just miss out again.
Prediction - 4th
First Fixture - Strømsgodset (a) 4/4/2020
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