Molde and Viking

The Eliteserie, the top level of Norwegian football, begins again for 2020 on 4th April. Aalesund, Sandefjord and Start have been promoted from OBOS-ligaen to join the other 13 teams, replacing Tromsø, Lillestrøm and Ranheim.

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.

Aker Stadion

Champions Molde play their games at Aker Stadion in Molde. A beautiful 11'249 seater stadium right on the waterfront in Molde. 

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. 

Magnus Wolff Eikrem

Former Manchester United youngster, Magnus Wolff Eikrem, re-signed for Molde after five years away, back in July 2018. Last season he was nominated for the team of the season as he contributed 11 goals and 8 assists in the league. He plays behind the striker in a '4231' system, and has license to roam around the park, often appearing in and around the edge of the box where he scored with some excellent finishes last season.

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.

Leke James

Top scorer for Molde last season, in his first full season at the club was Nigerian Leke James. His 17 league goals (24 in total) fired his team to the top of the table, and he benefits greatly from players like Hestad and Eikrem always looking for him running off the shoulder of defenders. 

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.

De Lanlay re-signs for Viking

Key Players - Making his return to the club after five years at Rosenborg, is Yann Erik de Lanlay. The 27 year old Norwegian was a real star of the youth setup at Viking, playing 142 games for the club after breaking through at 17 years old. 

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. 

Veton Berisha

Høiland is a poacher and gets scrappy goals, but they will be looking to new signing Veton Berisha to be a more consistent scorer. Berisha, brother to Valon, started his top flight career at Viking, playing a total of 107 games. In 2015 he had scored 11 in 14 games, before a summer move to Greuther Feurth in Germany.

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

Eliteserien Preview - Norway's Potential Golden Generation

Eliteserien Preview – Taking a look at Norway

Erling Braut Haaland

With the emergence on to the world stage of Erling Braut Haaland in the last six months, and Martin Ødegaard beginning to fulfil his promise with Real Sociedad, there has been an increase in interest for Norwegian football lately. Added to that the possibility of meeting Scotland to qualify for the European Championships, this seemed like as good a time as any to start writing about the Eliteserien, Norway’s top tier football league.

First however, a quick look at Norway’s emerging talent, before the preview for the 2020 season begins next week.


It seems like Norway are on the verge of something, on the brink of confirming a golden generation. Not since 2000 have they qualified for a major tournament, but with a stellar crop of 18-21 year olds, it seems like this is about to change.

Haaland and Ødegaard have both already made their debuts, indeed Ødegaard has played over 20 times already. Kristoffer Ajer is a regular at Celtic and Sander Berge has just signed for Sheffield United after a successful three year spell at Genk, both are 22 this year.

Add in to that some familiar, experienced faces and players playing all over Europe, it is clear to see why they are favourites in the Euro playoffs to make it to the tournament proper. Defensively there definitely are issues, but the midfield and forward divisions they are improving quickly. Really they should be looking to qualify for the next three or four tournaments, based on the age and potential of the squad.

They have plenty firepower to add to Haaland, with Josh King and Alexander Sørloth both options in attack. Sørloth in particular has found form this year in Turkey, scoring 16 in 19 with Trabzonspor.

Håkon Evjen

A young player to keep an eye on that hasn’t quite broken in to the national team reckoning yet is Håkon Evjen. The under 21 international was recently signed up by AZ in the Eredivisie where he will join up with fellow Norwegian’s Jonas Svensson and Fredrik Midtsjø. Evjen was the player of the season in Norway last season at only 19 years old, scoring 13 goals from 29 games from midfield as he led Bodø/Glimt to an impressive second placed finish. 

Another couple of under 21 internationals that have shown promise the last season and earned a move to bigger clubs are Kritoffer Askildsen and Kristian Thorsvedt. Askildsen made 16 appearances at Stabæk last season, and the tall midfielder has earned a move to Sampdoria on the back his breakthrough campaign. Thorsvedt meanwhile was a real standout for Viking, one of the top attacking midfielders in the league, and the 20 year old has signed a deal at Genk, replacing Sander Berge. The left footer has a real eye for goal with his late runs in to the box, and his goal-scoring  prowess should translate well to the Belgian league.

At Genk he will be joining Mats Møller Dæhli who has recently moved after a good spell at St. Pauli in Bundesliga 2. He was at Cardiff City under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, but still only 24 he has taken some time to fulfil his obvious talent, and will now be hoping Genk is the ideal place to continue to rebuild his reputation after a wasted two years at Freiburg.

Since Norway met Scotland in World Cup ’98, neither have made it to a World Cup(Euro 2000 the last tournament for Norway). A one off game at Ullevaal Stadion, in front of a capacity 28’000 would be an incredible night for both teams. First Scotland need to beat Israel at home, and Norway have the tough task of beating Serbia in Oslo, five days before the final to see who qualifies for the Euros.

The Eliteserien threw up some surprises last year, and my preview of the season will begin next week with a look at the runaway champions from 2019, Molde, and also the surprise winners of the Norwegian Cup, Viking Stavanger.