Molde will be aiming to pick up consecutive wins when they welcome Sarpsborg 08 to the Aker Stadion on Monday in round nine of the 2024 Norwegian Eliteserien season.
The away side, on the other hand, make the trip aiming to avoid a third straight defeat and get their league campaign back on track following a rough start.
Match preview
© Reuters
Molde returned to winning ways in grand style as they ran out emphatic 4-0 victors against Odd when the teams went head-to-head at the Skagerak Arena on Thursday evening.
A first-half double from Magnus Eikrem put Erling Moe's men in the box seat at half time before second-half strikes from Mathias Lovik and Aaron Olanare sealed the deal.
Consequently, the Blue Rascals remain third in the Norwegian Eliteserien table, five points adrift of division leaders Bodo/Glimt despite having played one game more.
Next up is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have been beaten in each of the last seven editions of this fixture since their last triumph in 2021.
Unbeaten in 14 of their last 15 matches on home turf across all competitions, Monday's hosts have established themselves as a dominant force in front of their fans and will be confident of coming away with maximum points.
Sarpsborg 08 suffered their heaviest defeat of the season last time out in a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of HamKam on Thursday evening.
Kristian Onsrud's double and strikes from John Norheim, Vidar Ari Jonsson and Gard Simenstad saw Stefan Billborn's men trail by five heading into the break after which Pawel Chrupalla managed to pull one back before Henrik Udahl and Paal Kirkevold got in on the act in the final 15 minutes.
With just seven points picked up from eight matches so far, SFK currently sit bottom but one in the standings but are in the relegation zone only on goal difference.
Having conceded eight goals across their last two away outings, Monday's visitors will need to keep things tight at the back as they aim to avoid another drubbing on the road.
Team News
Molde's Magnus Eikrem has found the back of the net five times in his last six matches in league and cup and is definitely one to keep an eye on here.
Veton Berisha remains unavailable for the home side due to an injury he picked up in March's Conference League playoff against Club Brugge.
Pawel Chrupalla came off the bench to open his Sarpsborg account at the second time of asking last time out and could be in line to make his full debut here.
Serge-Junior Ngouali is set to sit out a sixth straight game through injury, but the 32-year-old midfielder is drawing increasingly closer to a return to action.
Molde possible starting lineup:
Posiadala; Hagelskjaer, Oyvann, Amundsen; Lovik, Breivik, Kaasa, Eriksen, Stenevik; Eikrem, Gulbrandsen
Sarpsborg 08 possible starting lineup:
Ilic; Hiim, Skipper, Odegaard, Reinhardsen; Andersen, Sher; Chrupalla, Johansen, Orjasaeter; Meister
We say: Molde 3-1 Sarpsborg 08
Molde have been scoring for fun in front of their fans of late, and we can see that trend continuing here for the hosts en route to a comfortable win in the end.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
