Round 13 of the 2023 Norwegian Eliteserien season sees HamKam entertain the challenge of Aalesund at Briskeby Arena on Friday evening.
With both teams currently languishing in the relegation zone, neither of them will want to come away empty-handed from what promises to be a keenly-contested affair.
Match preview
Off the back of two straight league defeats, HamKam fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat against SK Brann when the teams faced off at Brann Stadion on Sunday.
Jakob Michelsen's men fell behind on the stroke of half time to Jonas Torsvik's opener after which Bard Finne put the result beyond doubt seven minutes from time, rendering Paal Kirkevold's late strike inconsequential.
Consequently, Gronnbuksene remain rooted to the bottom of the Norwegian Eliteserien table, three points adrift of safety despite playing one game more.
Next up is the task of facing off against an opposing outfit who are unbeaten in the last eight editions of this fixture across all competitions, winning five of them.
Having failed to find the back of the net in three of their most recent four home outings, Friday's hosts will need to up the ante at the attacking end of the pitch to stand any chance of coming out on top here.
Aalesund snapped a run of three consecutive losses courtesy of a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Rosenborg at Color Line Stadion on Sunday.
Following a relatively uneventful opening half, Lars Arne Nilsen's men broke the deadlock in the early exchanges of the second half through Markus Karlsbakk, and that proved to be the all-important moment.
With seven points picked up from 12 matches so far, the Orange and Blue sit bottom but one in the standings, albeit level on points with their next opponents one place below.
Currently on a run of 11 goals scored across their last three matches on the road, Friday's visitors will be looking to put another splendid display in front of goal away from home.
Team News
Julian Dunn-Johnson remains unavailable for HamKam through a knee injury which has seen him fail to make an appearance in over seven months.
Benjamin Faraas is currently on international duty with the Greece Under-19 side and will not play any part for the hosts in this one.
Alexander Ammitzboll is Aalesund's only guaranteed absentee due to a knee problem, and the forward is still a long way off returning to action.
Twenty-three-year-old Markus Karlsbakk is currently on a two-match scoring streak for the away side, making him one to keep an eye on here.
HamKam possible starting lineup:
Jendal; Norheim, Opsahl, Sjolstad; Gammelby, Kurtovic, Kjaergaard, Onsrud, Kongsro; Kirkevold, Wiedesheim-Paul
Aalesund possible starting lineup:
Grytebust; Kitolano, Andersen, Fallman, Munksgaard; Barmen, Segeberg, Karlsbakk; Atanga, Kristensen, Odemarksbakken
We say: HamKam 2-1 Aalesund
A draw does neither team any good, so we expect both of them to be fully up for it, giving rise to an exciting watch. That said, we are tipping the hosts to narrowly get the job done come the end of the 90 minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
