Norway, Tippeligaen 3-5 may

[E_S]

3. mai 2008
19:00 Tromsø 2.35 X 3.40 Brann 2.75
Tromsø took a strong win against Rosenborg away and continue to play well this season. They are normally strong at home and on their artificial grass, there are not many teams that will beat them. They played a pretty poor home game two weeks ago and will be very ready to bounce back here.
Tromsø will miss Knut Borch (GK) amd K.Huusko(A 3games) with injury. Last season top Morten Moldskred (A 2games) got a new injury last weekend.

Brann took 3 new points last weekend, but has lost both away games. Haven’t showed to good football so far, but midfielder G.Einarsson and attacker N.Demba-Nyren did a good game against Lillestrøm last weekend and both scored there. Brann don’t like to play on artificial grass, and they might rest a few players here to avoid injurys because of the foundation.
Brann will miss J.G.Solli (M 5games), A.Björnsson(A) , T.F.Ludvigsen(M) and E.Huseklepp(M) with injury.

Tromsø has good H2H against Brann, 8-2-3 on the last 13 games and Brann has only scored 9 goals in those games.

Tromsø are favourites here and -0,25AH on them is good.

4. mai 2008
18:00 Fredrikstad FK 1.50 X 4.00 HamKam 6.00
Fredrikstad has done well lately and has 10 points on the last 4 games. They have only lost to Brann so far and both home games are won. Haven’t played to well at home, took some time before they showed some good football against Bodø/Glimt, but in the end the win was well deserved and should have been with a few goals more. Fredrikstad was best against Lyn last weekend and could have taken all points there.
I.Fofana(A) got a injury on training all will be out for 1 week.

HamKam has lost the last 3 games and has only 3 points after 5 games. They played a pretty even game against Stabæk in first half, but they got more problems in second half. They haven’t played that bad, but in the last 2 games they have got one man out with red card and that has been hard for them.
J.Michalsen(M 4games) is suspended. J.Pasoja(D 4games) is back from suspension. HamKam will miss K.H.Haraldsen(D 2games), Håkan Malmström(D), Tom Kristoffersen(D), Steve Cooreman(D) and Pål Strand(M) with injury.

Fredrikstad are favourites here. I think we can get some goals here, so I go for over.

18:00 Strømsgodset 1.70 X 3.55 Bodø/Glimt 4.75
Strømsgodset is unbeaten on the last 4 games and has so far only lost to Viking away. They have won both home games. Against Rosenborg they played very well, but against Lyn they scored the winning goal very late and played with one man more then Lyn for 30 minutes. They were a little lucky to get a point against Molde in last game.

Bodø has 7 points so far, all is taken at home. Both away games are lost and the losses could have been bigger in the end. Against Fredrikstad they started very well, but after 30 minutes it seemed that their power and strengths was gone. Last weekend Bodø was pretty weak in the first half against Aalesund and was lucky that they hadn’t conceded a goal in that half. Played a little better in second half and managed to win the game in the end.
S.Theting(D 3games) J.Lædre Bjørndal(D), D.Blomgren(D), E.Iversen(D) and B.Bjarnasson(M 1game) is out with injury.

Bodø/Glimt has a good H2H here, with 4 wins in the last 7 games, total is it 1-2-4.

Strømsgodset are small favourites, but I think both teams should have good chances to score and will go for over here instead.

18:00 Vålerenga 1.50 X 3.75 Molde FK 6.75
Vålerenga started great against Viking on Monday and scored 3 goals before they had played 20 minutes. In second half they got pressed back and they could have lost some of the points. So after 5 games Vålerenga has 10 points and has only lost to Tromsø so far. They have taken 4 points on their 2 home games, but they might have 6 instead, if they hadn’t played a bad second half against Rosenborg.
Vålerenga will miss R.Lange (A), J.Jalland (M), and M.Fellah (A) with injury.

Molde played another good game last weekend, but still have problems with scoring on their chances. They have only scored two goals so far and they have 4 of 5 games ended in a draw. They have a strong defence, but should soon start scoring some goals if they want to avoid relegation fight. They took a strong point against Lillestrøm in last away game.
Molde will miss Christian Steen (D 2games) and Valter Tomaz jr(D) with injury. M.Andreasson(D 1game) might miss this game.

Vålerenga are favourites, but Molde has played well. Might be tempted to try under bet, but I will wait closer to the game.

18:00 Aalesund 1.95 X 3.40 Lyn Oslo 3.60
Aalesund was unlucky to lose last weekend, were they played a good first half against Bodø/Glimt. The second half was not that good, but they should have got at least one point in the end. They have won both home games and scored 9 goals in those two. Got a easy game against HamKam when they got a early red card and could scored more then those 5 they scored. They are strong at home on their artificial grass.
G.Bahoken(M) is injuryed.

Lyn played an even game against Fredrikstad last weekend and got a point there. They have lost both away games, but have played well in both those and should have got some points there. They have taken all points at home so far and continue then their great home performances from last season.
Lyn will miss Jimmy Tamand (D). O.Ighalo(A 4games 2goals) is doubtful after a hit in the game against Strømsgodset.

Think we can get a open and good game here with many chances so I will try a little on over.

20:00 Stabaek IF 2.10 X 3.45 Rosenborg 3.15
Stabæk is the only team so far that’s hasn’t lost a game. Both home games are won against good teams and here comes another one. They have a strong defence and have only conceded 3 goals so far. Star attacker D.Nannskog scored both goals against HamKam last weekend and is beginning to show the same form as he had last season.
H.Hauger(M) and M.Kjølø(D 1game) are injured.

Rosenborg lost again last weekend and has so far only 4 points. Have created many chances but haven’t scored enough goals. Also their defence don’t look to strong and need some more time before they know each other better. They might change formation to this game from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3. The 4-3-3 formation is the same formation they have played the last seasons. The reason for the change to 4-4-2 is because they will get E.Hamren as new coach when the season is over in Denmark. Time will tell what they will choose from the summer of.
Y.Kone (A 4games 2goals) is suspended after a red card. B.T.Kvarme(D 3games) and M.Jamtfall(A) is injuryed.

Stabæk has a good H2H here, with 4-5-1 against Rosenborg on the last 10 games.

Stabæk has played best and -0,25AH on them is tempting.

5. mai 2008
19:00 Lillestrøm 2.40 X 3.40 Viking 2.70
Lillestrøm is in a crisis now after another loss against Brann last weekend and they have only 2 points after 5 games. That is pretty poor from a team that was expected to fight for the league title. Coach T.Nordlie tells that his place is safe, but that might be a small signal that it isn’t? Lillestrøm has only one point at home, and haven’t played any good games there. Showed a little better play against Brann last weekend but still they are far from the potential they have.
Lillestrøm will miss Marius Johnsen(D), Espen Søgård(M) and Markus Kiesenebner(M) for a long time with injury. Bjørn Helge Riise(M) is also out a few more weeks. F.Kippe(D 4games) got a small injury against Brann but should be ready here.

Viking got an awful start against Vålerenga last weekend and was down with 3 goals before they had played 20 minutes. The whole first half against Vålerenga should be forgotten as soon as possible, because that was just poor. They played much better in second half and were very close to take points from Vålerenga. They have played a little unstable so far, but have a strong team and many good players. They lost to HamKam in their first away game, on a pitch that was very bad, but played better when they beat Tromsø away in an even game.
Viking will miss P.Abelsson(D), M.Ross(D 1game) and A.Ødegaard(A 3games) with injury. T.Myhre(GK) is back in training.

Lillestrøm has a very good H2H against Viking, they have won the last 7 games between them, and covered a handicap win 6 of those 7 games.

Viking has showed best football, but has been unstable so far, while I’m unsure on how the poor performance for Lillestrøm so far will affect this game. Might try some on LSK if the odds looks good.

[meatman]

Terrific work again ES, I'm sure everyone will find these very useful

[kimera]

Now the norwegian leagues have begun and the "nervous" period is over. Teams have made an impression and analyzes is easier to be made. As expected this season seems to be another tight battle for spots as the the last one have been. The 6th round lies ahead and it starts up with this clash on saturday while the other has kick-off time the next two days.

Tromsø-Brann
One of the outsiders for the title is the home team. Their style is a hardworking one with a lot of very fit players that are capable of standing up to any team. Their new-signings has made a good impact on the team and have shown great team efforts so far this season. The last win away against title contender Roseborg (1-0) supports that fact. In total they are 2-2-1 so far, 3 of them against the expected top teams in the league. Now they face a Brann team that has shown lack of stability in the 1st rounds of the season. The last year champions seems to struggle maintaining their favourite mark before the season coming up with highly variable results. At home they are feared, but when playing away problems arise. Both away games so far has been clear losses (Aalesund 2-4 and Stabaek 0-3) which clearly shows sign that things are not what it is supposed to be in the club. One huge fact about this game is that Tromsø (lies far north in Norway) is one of 3 clubs that has artificial grass in their home ground. This is a highly discussed subject in norwegian football when because of other teams immediately gets in trouble when they struggle to adjust the different pitch. Brann is not an exception. Since Tromso made the change before last season Brann has lost both their visits with clear margins (1-3 & 0-3). Also the loss to Aalesund, which also has an artificial pitch, earlier in this season "completes" the fact.

Squad-wise, Tromsø will only miss Keijo Huusko. Which means that the same eleven that beat Rosenborg last match will get their go. Brann on the other side have trouble with right-wingers Solli, Huseklepp and Ludvigsen. This means that wing-back Guntveit probably will be on the right side making the offensive part weaker. Also midfielder Hassan El-Fakiri is in doubt. It also should be a couple of goals tomorrow in my opnion. Tromso has had some problems delivering in front of the net, but they have sure had their chances though and a very unstable Brann should be the perfect moment to get the effectiveness rating up. Brann on the other side has been part of 4/5 highly volatile matches with many goals and lot of action. One thing is for sure though, their normally sturdy defence and goalie have clearly shown weakness in the beginning of the season. Even if Brann is "on paper" the stronger team, I can`t see them winning this one and the price for Tromsø is definitely worth an effort.

Picks:
Tromsø, straight win, 2.35 @expect 4/10
Over 2.5, 1.75 @betsafe 5/10

[zicko]

Sport	Football (Norway)
Event	Lillestrøm - Viking
Selection	Viking (0) (Asian Handicap)
Strength	10/10
Date	05/05/2008
Bookmaker/Price	Pinnacle Sports @ 2.14 (Back)
Reasoning	Lillestrøm improved in the match against Brann, even though they lost 2-1. The rest of the matches this season have been very disappointing. The team have played three of the expected top teams prior to this match, losing all 3. Viking are maybe favourites for the title, and have started well. Lost at home to VIF in their last match after letting in 3 goals in the first 20 minutes. The team have quality and should be looking to revenge that loss. A clear away victory gives 3 in odds, but I think the 0 AH is a better bet in this match

[Honest Al the punters pal]

ES, I've just joined this site but I must admit I enjoyed reading your tips and opinions. I have only just started to follow Norwegian football (after some recent betting successes with Swedish football). I learned a long time ago that good information is KING when it comes to beating the bookies regularly. Keep up the good work but remember, quality is better than quantity!

[Honest Al the punters pal]

Hi Guys, being new to this site (and the Scandinavian leagues), I could really do with all the help I can get. Just like most people I love to beat the bookies and I class myself as a semi pro gambler. One of the things that interests me about the Scandinavian leagues is the use of artificial turf and the advantage that can give the home sides. I made quite a lot of money this season through British bookies on the Scottish first division because they didn't realise that Hamilton Acc. were the only team in the division to have an artificial playing surface. Hamilton (who won that league) were virtually unbeatable at home. Unfortunately, now they have been promoted to the Scottish Premiership next season they have to dig their pitch up and lay grass (as that is the Premiership ruling).
I know in Sweden in the Allsvenskan that Elfsborg play on a plastic pitch and now through these boards that both Tromso and Aalesund also do. Can anyone tell me if there are any other teams that have an artificial pitch in the Scandinavian leagues and who seem to 'take advantage' of that fact with excellent home results?
Thanks for any help or information...

[zicko]

Tromsø, Bodø/Glimt, Aalesund and Strømsgodset in Tippeligaen play on artificial surface. In Adeccoligaen at least Løv-Ham do as well.

[E_S]

Alta has played the first games on artificial gras. They have played indoor, but i guess they will play outside when the snow is gone.
Notodden plays on artificial gras, the same does Nybergsund and Odd