Rosenborg will come into week 20 of the 2017 Norwegian Eliteserien with huge confidence following their excellent mid-week victory in the UEFA Europa League at Ajax. Not only are Rosenborg well placed to qualify for the group stages of the Europa League this season, they also sit top of the Eliteserien. Kare Ingebrigtsen’s team have 41 points from their 19 games played and are currently 7 points clear of second place Sarpsborg 08. Having won the title in the previous two seasons, Rosenborg are set to make it three in a row this season.
FK Haugesund make the trip to the Lerkendal Stadion in Trondheim sitting in 6th place in the Eliteserien table. Having finished 4th last season, they will be hoping to at least achieve the same this campaign and continue their momentum.
Rosenborg Form
Rosenborg are clearly the team to beat in Norway and have won their last 4 games in all competitions. There have been 2 wins in the Eliteserien, a win in the NM Cup and that glorious 1-0 win in Amsterdam against Ajax. The win over Ajax was one of the biggest in the history of the club and the players will be feeling confident following their victory.
In the Eliteserien, Rosenborg are undefeated in their last 6 games but their last defeat came at Haugesund, so revenge will be the order of the day. Rosenborg are undefeated in their last 5 home Eliteserien games and have lost only 1 match at home in the league this season.
Haugesund Form
Having enjoyed a tremendous unbeaten run in all competitions between 24th May and 16th July, a run which spanned 11 matches, Haugesund lost 2-0 at Lech Poznan in the Europa League qualifiers on 20th July and have struggled to recover from that defeat.
There have since been 2 defeats and 1 draw, the latter of which came last week at home to Stabaek. One of the defeats was in the league at Sarpsborg and the other in the NM Cup at home to Molde, which was a disappointing loss.
However, in the Eliteserien Haugesund have only lost 1 of their last 8 games and will believe they can pick something up from this match based on that form. That being said, they have won just 1 of their last 5 away league games, drawing 1 and losing 3.
Team News
Tore Reginiussen, Vegar Hedenstad and Magnus Stamnestro are all expected to miss this game for Rosenborg with injury. There is also a doubt over Pal Andre Helland and Mike Jensen is suspended. Haugesund have no injury problems to report and new signings Marko Cosic and Aleksandar Kovacevic could make their debuts for the club.
Top Betting Tips
Given their overall record in the Eliteserien this season, the fact they defeated Ajax in mid-week and the home advantage, Rosenborg must be backed to win this game at 1/2 with Ladbrokes.
However, Haugesund have enough about them to cause the hosts trouble at the back. It’s just 1 clean sheet in their last 7 home league games for Rosenborg and Haugesund have scored in each of their last 4 away matches. Rosenborg to win and both teams to score is 2/1 with Ladbrokes.
Nicklas Bendtner has scored 3 goals in his last 3 games for Rosenborg and is their top scorer in the Eliteserien. The Danish international is 10/3 with Ladbrokes to get the first goal of the game.