Viking FK will be bidding to return to winning ways in the Eliteserien when they continue their campaign away to Sarpsborg 08 on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors are currently seventh in the table, only three points behind third-placed Tromso, while Sarpsborg occupy sixth, one point ahead of their opponents in this contest.
Match preview
Sarpsborg are in their seventh straight campaign at this level of football, having earned promotion from the second tier in 2016, and they actually finished third in the Eliteserien in 2017.
Stefan Billborn's side have been eighth three times and 12th twice in their five seasons since, but they are currently in sixth position, picking up 15 points from their opening nine games of the season.
Sarpsborg have posted four wins, three draws and two defeats in the league this term, and they suffered a 2-1 loss to Tromso in their last Eliteserien fixture on June 4.
Billborn's team were victorious on Wednesday, though, recording a 3-1 win over Odd in the NM Cupen to progress to the fourth round of the competition.
Sarpsborg have been relatively strong at home this season, picking up seven points from their opening four matches, while Viking have won one, drawn one and lost two of their four games on their travels.
Viking will also enter this match off the back of a win in the NM Cupen, beating Fredrikstad 2-1 to advance in the competition, but they lost 4-3 to Molde in the league last time out.
The Dark Blues are eight-time winners of the Eliteserien, although they have not been victorious in the league since 1991, with their best finish since then proving to be third in 2021.
The Stavanger-based outfit finished down in 11th last season, but they have made a solid start to this campaign, picking up 14 points from nine matches to occupy seventh position.
Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim's side are only three points behind third-placed Tromso heading into the next set of fixtures, while they recorded a 1-0 victory over Sarpsborg in the corresponding match last season.
Team News
Sarpsborg will be without the services of Magnar Odegaard on Sunday, with the defender remaining on the sidelines due to a long-term knee problem.
Kristian Opseth has been the team's main source of goals this season, finding the back of the net on four occasions, and he should return to the XI here, having been an unused substitute against Tromso.
There are not expected to be many surprises when it comes to the home side's starting XI, with Joachim Soltvedt and Victor Torp among those in line for starts.
Viking, meanwhile, will be without the services of Jost Urbancic due to a broken foot.
Sondre Bjorshol is also out of the contest through suspension, with the six-goal defender receiving a straight red card in the latter stages of the home loss to Molde last time out.
Viljar Vevatne is likely to be the player to benefit from Bjorshol's absence to start at the back, but the visitors could otherwise be unchanged from the side that started against Molde, with Zlatko Tripic, who has scored seven goals this season, featuring in the final third.
Sarpsborg 08 possible starting lineup:
Kristiansen; Wichne, Utvik, Skipper, Soltvedt; Ngouali, Torp; Baah, Andersen, Maigaard; Opseth
Viking FK possible starting lineup:
Gunnarsson; Vevatne, Stensness, Brekalo, Pattynama; Solbakken, De Lanlay, Tangen; Svendsen, Salvesen, Tripic
We say: Sarpsborg 08 2-2 Viking FK
Viking's recent away form has been excellent, triumphing in four of their last five games on their travels, but Sarpsborg have won each of their last three at home, so we are finding it difficult to separate them and have therefore settled on a high-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
