Viking FK will aim to break into the top three of the Norwegian Eliteserien table on Saturday, when they play host to FK Haugesund.
The Dark Blues currently sit just one point behind third-placed Brann after three straight league victories, while their visitors have gained much-needed ground over the relegation zone with a strong run of their own.
Match preview
Following their 11th-placed finish in the Norwegian Eliteserien last season, Viking FK have enjoyed a far stronger start to the new term, as they currently sit fourth after 12 league games with 23 points on the board.
After losing their opening outing to Rosenborg, the Dark Blues quickly kicked into gear with a six-game unbeaten run including four victories, but they would then suffer a pair of setbacks in late May and at the beginning of June, falling to 5-1 and 4-3 defeats to Bodo/Glimt and Molde respectively.
Those losses have not had a lasting impact on Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim and Morten Jensen's side, though, as they have since bounced back in impressive fashion and head into the weekend on the back of three more consecutive wins, firstly triumphing 3-1 away at Sarpsborg 08, thanks to goals from Harald Nilsen Tangen, David Brekalo and Sander Svendsen, before Zlatko Tripic netted a brace alongside a Lars-Jorgen Salvesen goal in a victory over Brann by the same scoreline.
Such a result saw Viking cut the gap to high-fliers Brann to just a single point, and hoping to strengthen their bid for a top-three spot further, they most recently travelled to Valerenga on Saturday and looked set to be held to a 1-1 draw, as Stefan Strandberg equalised in the 85th minute for their hosts, after Salvesen's first-half opener, but Niklas Sanberg would pop up with a winner deep into injury time to seal a third straight three-point haul for the Dark Blues.
While they were unable to leapfrog Brann with that triumph, Aarsheim and Jensen's men do still sit in a particularly strong position in fourth spot, with just a one-point gap up to third place and a three-point gap up to second-placed Tromso, with a game in hand on the former, and they will now be keen to crack the top three with a fourth victory on the bounce on Saturday.
Their visitors arrive hoping to pull off somewhat of an upset and continue a strong run of their own, having recently moved clear of the bottom three in Norway's top flight.
While FK Haugesund did triumph over HamKam in their second league match of the season, their start to the campaign was dismal on the whole, with that being their only win of the opening eight outings, having also managed just three draws alongside four defeats in that time.
That opening run culminated in back-to-back beatings at the hands of Rosenborg and Tromso at the end of May, but they were then able to end a six-game wait for a three-point haul with a 2-1 victory away at Stromsgodset, before making it two on the bounce at home to Sandefjord, eventually holding out for a 3-2 triumph after going 3-0 up inside 20 minutes through Bilal Njie and Sory Ibrahim Diarra and a Jesper Taaje own goal.
Jostein Grindhaug's side then faced an unenviable trip to defending champions Malmo, and they were unable to make it three victories in a row, eventually falling to a 1-0 defeat after a commendable effort, before instantly making a return to winning ways on Sunday when they hosted Odd, despite going 1-0 down inside the first 30 minutes.
Njie drew the Seagulls level on the stroke of half time, before Martin Samuelsen hit the decisive goal in the 80th minute, and now sitting 11th as a result of their improvement, with a six-point lead over the bottom three and just a two-point gap to seventh place, FK Haugesund will be keen to continue their climb up the division with what would be a major scalp on their travels.
Team News
Viking FK could come into Saturday's game with an unchanged starting XI from their away win over Valerenga, but Niklas Sandberg does have a claim to come into the attack from the outset after netting the late decisive goal off the bench.
Lars-Jorgen Salvesen will again spearhead the attack after hitting his fourth of the season in that triumph, while left winger Zlatko Tripic leads the squad scoring charts with six alongside three assists in just 12 league appearances this term.
Patrick Yazbek, Markus Solbakken and Yann-Erik de Lanlay should all keep their places in the engine room, while Djibril Diop will likely again join David Brekalo at the heart of the back four.
Similarly to their hosts, Haugesund may also opt to deploy an unchanged starting XI at the weekend but could make a change in attack, with Sory Ibrahim Diarra set to return after a suspension, having managed three goals in his 10 league appearances so far this term.
He will hope to reform a strike pairing with Bilal Njie, while former West Ham United man Martin Samuelsen is also vying to feature in the attack after his goal off the bench in their win over Odd.
Jostein Grindhaug has barely altered his defence this term, with full-backs Oscar Krusnell and Peter Therkildsen and centre-backs Anders Baertelsen and Soren Reese four of the only five outfield players to feature in all 12 league games thus far, and we should again see the same back four on Saturday following their latest victory.
Viking FK possible starting lineup:
Gunnarsson; Haugen, Diop, Brekalo, Pattynama; Yazbek, Solbakken, De Lanlay; Sandberg, Salvesen, Tripic
FK Haugesund possible starting lineup:
Selvik; Therkildsen, Baertelsen, Reese, Krusnell; Sande, Christensen, Leite, Samuelsen; Njie, Diarra
We say: Viking FK 3-2 FK Haugesund
We certainly anticipate an entertaining contest between two sides playing with plenty of confidence, and on the back of three straight triumphs and with their sights set on the top three, we back the hosts to come out on top.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
