Ranheim – Kongsvinger 03-05-2025

We are going to round 5 of this year's OBOS-Liga, and in Ranheimsfjæra at EXTRA Arena, Ranheim will host top team Kongsvinger, who are doing well. While Ranheim has had a lead-heavy start to the season, Kongsvinger has really delivered since the opening match against Åsane, which ended 1-1.

Ranheim is now in 13th place with 3 points, after they took their first win last time, in a match where Hødd was actually the better team. Kongsvinger has, as I said, delivered brilliantly after the opening match, and is in a nice 2nd place before this match.

What can we expect here? We think we have the answer. This Ranheim team needs time, and they still haven't had enough of it.

Ranheim – Expectations greater than abilities.

This Ranheim team looks terribly weak from the start. Maybe Kåre showed what he was doing when he announced last year that he was done as a coach after the season, and instead moved on to managing the sports. The way this team is set up now, it is managed by what resembles more of a group of friends than qualified coaches. Because here they have hired a coaching team with little experience. Christian Eggen Rismark has followed in his grandfather's footsteps and taken the step into the coaching world. Maybe he can experience something of the same as his more famous relative Nils Arne Eggen. But in that case it is a long time yet. With him in the team he has brought Pål Andre Helland, who has partly done well as an expert on TV after he retired. This is something different. Here you are actually measured by results, and they have been more or less absent at the start.

They took their first win in the previous league round, when they beat a Hødd that had been pressing in the match, and in that respect deserved to get something. Bendik Bye, who was signed for a new season at the age of 35, was the match winner, and is the team's top scorer with two goals so far. All the matches as a substitute. This will probably also be a bit of a problem for Ranheim this season, because they have no natural goalscorers in the team. They are far from being the team that was known for dominating matches, and not least coming on the attack time and time again. There is some debris in this machinery, and the coaching team has a lot to work on. In that sense, it was probably right to ride into victory in the previous match. To get a result here was absolutely crucial for further belief in this project.

This team once made waves in Trondheim, as a team that wanted to play offensive football based on local talent and the winning culture of Trondheim. That's not the case anymore. This team doesn't attract many spectators during the day. So there won't be much help from the audience in such matches. We think they'll have a tough time in this one.

Kongsvinger – Biting into the top.

Kongsvinger has been in the top six in this division for several seasons in a row now. They have somehow established themselves at this level. We see that they will probably have a good run this season as well. Even though the league consists of tough teams like Lillestrøm, Aalesund, Odd and Start, Kongsvinger will definitely do well.

Johan Wennberg, who is only 34 years old, is one of these talented young coaches we now see in both Norwegian and international football today. He has made his way through Kongsvinger's 2nd team, before becoming an assistant coach, and in 2023 was given the opportunity as interim head coach in 2023, and hired as head coach before the 24 season. He also knows the club well from his time playing for the same club. We believe this is a right match for both club and coach, and it will be exciting to follow this development further.

Another one we see has developed is the Dane Lucas Haren. The player was an enrichment for this Kongsvinger team last year, and had 11 goals and 10 assists last year in 26 games. He was certainly an exciting name for many in the transfer market. But Kongsvinger were lucky to keep him. Could he follow up on the strong numbers from last year. Absolutely! He has started this season even better than last year, and now stands with 5 goals in 4 games. Absolutely crucial for the start Kongsvinger has had this year's season. These are exactly the kind of players it will be difficult for Ranheim to defend against. We believe this quality will also be decisive in this game.

Conclusion – Quality and form are crucial.

After Ranheim had a bad season last year, they have followed the same trend this season. There is bad news before this match.

Kongsvinger is in scoring form these days. 12 goals in the last 3 for Kongsvinger. While Ranheim has scored 2 in the same number of matches. Form and quality will be crucial in this one, and we would think that Ranheim will try their hand with a controlled and low-lying team. We think it will be tough, as they do not appear to be the good counter-attacking team they once were.

With the odds we get here, we will have to try the following bet.

OBOS League at 16:00: Ranheim – Kongsvinger: Kongsvinger wins (2.05)