The 15th round in Norway’s Eliteserien finishes Monday with the league’s hottest team Viking trying to win a sixth consecutive game versus bottom-of-the-table Aalesund.
Bookmaker 10bet sees Viking dominating the clash and is offering odds at 1.83 for the hosts to win by at least a two-goal margin. The odds are at 3.00 for Viking to win by at least three goals and at 5.75 for the Stavanger side to beat the -3 handicap.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 23rd, 8:30 A.M. (EST)
Viking is attempting to produce a bounce-back year after dropping to 11th last season and things are off to a promising start. There have been only three losses through 14 outings, and after some initial defensive struggles, things have started to click at both ends of the pitch. Viking has recorded back-to-back clean sheets and boasts 11 goals from its current winning streak.
Team captain Zlatko Tripic has been unplayable for many opponents, registering seven goals and four assists in the league, while new signing Lars-Jorgen Salvesen has caused the most trouble during the team’s hot spell, scoring in three of the last four games. With Aalesund having the worst defensive record in the league, both Tripic and Salvesen should feel confident of more success in front of goal Monday.
Aalesund was ninth last season as a newly-promoted side, but considering the start-of-the-season form, it’s going to take a massive effort to repeat the feat in 2023. The campaign started with a five-game losing streak and Aalesund needed eight games of action to even get its first goal of the season. The team then ended up shocking defending champion Molde with a 3-1 victory but only one more win has followed.
The second victory of the season for Aalesund came under new boss Christian Johnsen on July 2. The Orange and Blue once again took down one of the big boys of the league in Rosenborg but a run of three consecutive losses that followed has left Aalesund firmly rooted to the bottom of the table. The team sits on seven points, having avoided defeat in only three matches this season.
Aalesund has mostly played in the second tier in recent years but the teams have clashed four times in three seasons. Tripic scored in both matches against Aalesund last season, although the two sides still ended up splitting the games. Last year’s 2-1 home success marks Aalesund’s lone victory in the past four head-to-head meetings.
