Matchday 10 of the 2024 Norwegian Eliteserien season sees Viking FK and HamKam lock horns against each other at the SR-Bank Arena on Sunday.
Both teams head into this one off the back of respective victories in their most recent outings and will be looking to pick up where they left off.
Match preview
Viking FK claimed a second win in three outings as they ran out 3-0 victors against Sandefjord in Monday's meeting at the Sandefjord Arena.
Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim's men broke the deadlock after just six minutes through Zlatko Tripic before second-half strikes from Lars-Jorgen Salvesen and Simen Kvia-Egeskog sealed the deal.
As a result, the Dark Blues have moved up to fifth place in the Norwegian Eliteserien table, two points adrift of the final European spot.
Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have come out on top in just one of the last eight editions of this fixture.
Having recently seen their 11-game unbeaten home streak come to an end, Sunday's hosts will be keen to avoid back to back defeats in front of their fans for the first time since February.
HamKam made it two victories in a row courtesy of a 1-0 triumph over defending champions Bodo/Glimt at the Briskeby Arena on Monday afternoon.
Jakob Michelsen's men struck in the 20th minute through Gard Simenstad, whose opening goal was enough to get the job done in a hard-fought win.
With 10 points picked up from as many matches this term, De Gronnbuksene sit eighth in the league standings and are beginning to find their feet following a rough start to the campaign.
Off the back of 13 goals scored across their last four away matches, Sunday's visitors will be looking to put on another attacking masterclass on enemy territory.
Team News
Viking's Zlatko Tripic was on target for a third time in five games last time out, making the forward one to look out for this weekend.
Kristoffer Lokberg is still unavailable for the hosts, having not featured since the second week of April due to a long-term knee problem.
HamKam are set to be without Norwegian duo Snorre Strand Nilsen and Halvor Opsahl, who continue to nurse groin and thigh injuries respectively.
Tore Soras will also miss Sunday's clash in Stavanger, but the 25-year-old is closing in on making his return to action from a brief injury off.
Gard Simenstand's winner against Bodo/Glimt was his third strike in four matches, and he will be looking to come up trumps for the visitors once again.
Viking FK possible starting lineup:
Gunnarsson; Urbancic, Langas, Stensness, Haugen; Yazbek, Bell, Auklend; Tripic, Salvesen, D'Agostino
HamKam possible starting lineup:
Sandberg; Norheim, Sjolstad, Mares; Jonsson, Simenstad, Kurtovic, Onsrud, Kongsro; Odegard, Udahl
We say: Viking FK 2-1 HamKam
Viking have dominated this fixture to a large extent and will be confident of another positive result this weekend. We are tipping the hosts to carry the day come the end of the 90 minutes in what should be an absorbing affair.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Adepoju Marvellous
