Both aiming to make it back-to-back victories in the Norwegian Eliteserien, Sarpsborg 08 and Rosenborg will square off at the Sarpsborg Stadion on Friday.
The hosts remain in the relegation zone of the top-flight table but within a point of automatic safety after their crucial win last time out under the new management of Christian Michelsen, while their visitors sit seven places ahead but just four points better off.
Match preview
Sarpsborg 08 return to action on Friday with the aim of leaping out of the drop zone in the Norwegian Eliteserien, having moved closer to safety with a crucial return to winning ways last time out after a difficult start to the season.
Following three consecutive eighth-placed finishes in the domestic top flight, Stefan Billborn's team amassed just seven points from their first eight outings, culminating in 4-1 and 7-1 beatings at the hands of Sandefjord and HamKam, and after bouncing back in impressive fashion away at Molde in May, they went on to endure another difficult run.
Indeed, that was followed by another three losses on the bounce, firstly falling to Stromsgodset and Kristiansund, spelling the end of Billborn's tenure, before hosting league leaders Bodo/Glimt in new boss Christian Michelsen's first game at the helm and falling short in agonising fashion, having led through Henrik Meister and gone into injury time level, only for a 92nd-minute Franklin Tebo Uchenna own goal to see the visitors leave with a 2-1 victory.
That meant they headed into Sunday's trip to fellow strugglers Haugesund on just 10 points from 12 games, three adrift of safety, but Michelsen was able to oversee a first victory at the second time of asking, as they found themselves on the right end of a late decider having trailed until the final 15 minutes, only for Jo Inge Berget to level the scores at a goal apiece before completing the turnaround with his and his side's second in the seventh added minute.
While they remain in the bottom two after that victory, Sarpsborg 08 do now only trail Haugesund in the relegation playoff place on goal difference and three sides by a single point in the fight for survival, and with plenty of encouragement to take from their first two games under new management, they will set out to make it back-to-back triumphs on Friday and leap out of the bottom three entirely.
Their visitors, meanwhile, also head into Friday's contest on the back of an important victory in the fight at the bottom end of the Eliteserien, albeit having moved into the top half given the tight nature of the division at this stage.
Following a disappointing ninth-placed finish in Norway's top flight last time around, the Troillongan set out to improve in 2024, but they endured a tricky start to the campaign, despite winning three of their first four outings, as a following five-match winless streak left them on 10 points from nine games in late May.
The Trondheim outfit have shown signs of improvement since, though, adding seven more points to that tally in four further attempts, having firstly picked up a 2-1 victory at home to Kristiansund and a 1-1 draw with Fredrikstad, before visiting fourth-placed Viking and failing to avoid a defeat, eventually losing 4-2 in Stavanger with Ola Saeter's 94th-minute penalty nothing more than a consolation.
Aiming to quickly bounce back to winning ways and extend their slender lead over the relegation zone, Alfred Johansson's side most recently hosted Odd on Wednesday and made an important return to winning ways, initially going 2-0 up in the first half through Sverre Nypan's opener and an Andre Hansen own goal and standing strong in the final 10 minutes after Mikael Ingebrigtsen pulled one back for their visitors.
Thanks to that result and their recent upturn in form, Rosenborg have quickly climbed up to eighth spot in the Eliteserien after their poor start, but still only leading Friday's hosts and the relegation playoff place by four points, they will be keen to continue moving up the division and away from the threat of the drop.
Team News
After making his return from an injury absence with a decisive quickfire brace off the bench to fire Sarpsborg to a 2-1 win over Haugesund on Sunday, Jo Inge Berget should come in and lead the attack from the outset on Friday.
In a 4-2-3-1 shape, he will be supported on the left-hand side by Sondre Orjasaeter, who leads their scoring charts with five goals so far this term, while Eirik Wichne should continue on the opposite flank in the ongoing absence of key winger Niklas Sandberg through injury.
Aimar Sher will likely complete the attacking setup through the centre, while behind him, Jeppe Andersen and former Fulham man Stefan Johansen will continue their partnership in the engine room.
Alfred Johansson should field a similar Rosenborg starting XI to the one that featured in the weekend's victory over Odd, although top scorer Ole Saeter, who has hit six goals in 10 Eliteserien games so far this term, will fight to feature up from the start after settling for a substitute appearance last time out.
Young winger Marius Broholm will continue on the right flank having netted five of his own this season, while fellow danger man Jayden Nelson will likely remain sidelined having missed the last two outings.
Mainstay Ulrik Jenssen and captain Markus Henriksen will continue their partnership in the middle of the defence, while Edvard Tagseth, Santeri Vaananen and Sverre Nypan should all keep their places in the midfield.
Sarpsborg 08 possible starting lineup:
Ilic; Christiansen, Uchenna, Casas, Hiim; Johansen, Andersen; Wichne, Sher, Orjasaeter; Berget
Rosenborg possible starting lineup:
Tangvik; Cornic, Henriksen, Jenssen, Reitan; Tagseth; Broholm, Vaananen, Nypan, Reitan-Sunde; Saeter
We say: Sarpsborg 08 1-1 Rosenborg
We anticipate a hard-fought contest on Friday with both sides boosted by victories at the weekend and keen to improve their campaigns.
While the visitors arguably boast more quality and have had the better season thus far, Sarpsborg have certainly showed improvement under new management and should have enough to take a share of the points.
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Sam Varley
