Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Norwegian Eliteserien clash between Sarpsborg 08 and SK Brann, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sarpsborg 08 will attempt to claim a third consecutive victory when they play host to SK Brann in Saturday’s Eliteserien encounter.
Meanwhile, the visitors will be desperate to return to winning ways after failing to win any of their last three games.
Match preview
Sarpsborg have halted a run of three consecutive defeats by claiming back-to-back victories over Haugesund and Rosenborg.
They scored a 97th-minute winner to complete a dramatic turnaround against Haugesund, before they thumped Rosenborg 4-1 in their most recent outing.
Henrik Meister scored all four goals – including a first-half hat-trick – to guide Sarpsborg to their second home win of the season.
As a result of those two victories, Sarpsborg have climbed out of the drop zone and into 12th place, leaving them two points clear of the bottom three.
They will now turn their focus to Saturday’s contest, where they will attempt to record three consecutive league victories for the first time since May 2023.
While Sarpsborg are in a relegation fight, Brann are dreaming of lifting the Eliteserien title for the first time since 2007.
Having collected 29 points from 16 matches, Eirik Horneland‘s side are currently sitting in second position and four points adrift of leaders Bodo/Glimt.
However, Brann’s title bid has lost momentum with a three-game winless run which began with a goalless draw against Stromsgodset.
They were then thrashed 5-1 by title rivals Bodo/Glimt, before they gave up a slender advantage to play out a 1-1 draw in their recent home clash against Haugesund.
Brann will now attempt to claim a competitive away win against Sarpsborg for the first time since recording a narrow 1-0 win in July 2020.
Sarpsborg 08 Norwegian Eliteserien form:
SK Brann Norwegian Eliteserien form:
Team News
Sarpsborg defender Magnar Odegaard is set to miss a fourth consecutive game due to injury, while Niklas Sandberg is doubtful due to an ankle problem.
After dropping down to the bench last weekend, Arnau Casas could return to the lineup to partner Franklin Tebo Uchenna in central defence.
Meister will continue to lead the line for the hosts after he celebrated his first professional hat-trick with his four-goal haul against Rosenborg.
As for the visitors, they are still having to cope with the injured duo of Ole Didrik Blomberg and Jonas Torsvik.
They can also no longer call upon Sivert Heltne Nilsen, who completed a move to Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen earlier this month.
Midfielder Sakarias Opsahl could feature among the substitutes after recently arriving from fellow Eliteserien club Tromso.
Sarpsborg 08 possible starting lineup:
Ilic; Christiansen, Casas, Tebo Uchenna, Hiim; Johansen, Sher; Chrupalla, Halvorsen, Orjasaeter; Meister
SK Brann possible starting lineup:
Dyngeland; Crone, Knudsen, Sery Larsen, Kristiansen; Kornvig, Pedersen, Myhre; Mathisen, Castro, Finne
We say: Sarpsborg 08 1-1 SK Brann
Brann will be desperate to return to winning ways to get their title bid back on track, but we think they may have to settle for a point after failing to win either of their previous two competitive away matches against Sarpsborg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.