Vålerenga – Viking – 30-03-2025

Finally, the wait is over, and the Eliteserien is back! In addition, Vålerenga is making a comeback in the Eliteserien after a year in the OBOS league. Will they be able to bite the bullet this year? We think Vålerenga can bite the bullet and be a positive surprise this season. The match will be well supported from the stands. Over 1500 tickets have been sold for the away fans, and there will be a tight spot for space on the long sides and at the Klanen. According to 90MinuteFamily table tips, these teams should end up in 3rd and 5th place. You can read the tip here: 90MinuteFamily table tips .

Vålerenga – Finally back!

Finally, Vålerenga is back in good company after the scandalous (and perhaps much-needed) relegation in 2023. The last time Vålerenga was in the Eliteserien, they ended up at the bottom of the "home table" with only 2 wins, 4 draws and 9 losses, and a goal difference of 19-29 in 15 games. If you include the qualifying match against Kristiansund, you can add one more loss and 2 goals in the bag.

I think it is very important for Vålerenga that they take 3 points at home very quickly, and preferably this Sunday. If they start with a loss tonight, it won't take long before the media comes up with "not won at home since September 2023", and the pressure will increase considerably at the same time as the psychological factor kicks in. Vålerenga's first 5 home games are tough: Viking, Rosenborg, Brann, HamKam and Molde in that order.

The pre-season has been up and down. It started very well in January and February with 4 wins out of 4 possible. After a 1-1 draw against Hafnarfjordur, there were 3 straight losses against Strømsgodset, Tromsø and Brann. The match against Brann was a bright spot after some poor performances. Here the teams were evenly matched and each had their own half where they were best, and the match could have ended 1-1, but due to a goalkeeping error it ended 2-1 to Brann.

Vålerenga's last 5 training matches have ended 1-2-3 with a goal difference of 6-9, where the average goal per match has been 3. If we include the entire pre-season, it is 4-2-3 and a goal difference of 16-12, and a goal average of 3.5 goals.

Vålerenga has almost a full squad and has lost some players, but at the same time brought in some exciting players such as Håkon Sjåtil (Kristiansund), Elias Sørensen (Portsmouth, England) and Noah Pallas (HJK Helsinki, Finland).

Vålerenga was the team that produced the most corners at home in the OBOS league in 2024, with an average of 7.87, and an average of 13.07 match corners. This is admittedly a level below the Eliteserien, and one should perhaps not put too much emphasis on these numbers when they are now playing at the top level.

Viking – Will there be a peak crisis?

Finished third in the 2024 Eliteserien and has had ambitions to take the next step up. The problem with Viking is that they have gotten rid of some extremely good players, but have not found any proper reinforcements. Viking's top scorer in 2024, Lars-Jørgen Salvesen, was sold to Portsmouth for a record sum, and they have not brought in a direct replacement for him. Sondre Langås, who also went to Derby with Salvesen, has got a good replacement in Martin Ove Roseth, and in addition, they have this week brought in a very strong signing in midfield, Kristoffer Askildsen.

Several media outlets and Viking's own fans have pointed out that Viking has a "striker problem" after Salvesen disappeared and a direct replacement has not been purchased. Viking will probably focus on Australian Nicholas D'Agostino, and he himself is confident that he is the right man to be Viking's center forward and believes that he can score with all parts of his body. It also doesn't help that D'Agostino left Wednesday's training session furious with groin pain after a duel. If he is not available for the match against Vålerenga, it is a big loss for Viking. Viking's other pure striker alternative is Icelandic Mikaelsson, who has not been involved much in Viking's preparation due to the U21 national team in Iceland. Viking will probably have to rely on veteran Zlatko Tripic, who was one of the league's best players in the 2024 season.

Viking's pre-season has also been a bit of an up and down. Viking was in a good flow and got 3 good wins against Fredrikstad, Kristiansund and Rosenborg, before they suffered a very sour 4-3 loss against Start in the dress rehearsal, which also resulted in a bit of a bad atmosphere among Viking's fans in the stadium. Viking's last 5 training matches have ended with 3-0-2 and a goal difference of 14-11, which gives an average of 5 goals per match. If you take the entire pre-season, Viking ends up with 4-2-2 and a goal difference of 22-17, which gives 4.88 goals in total.

Viking was the Eliteserien team that produced the most corners away from home in 2024, with an average of 6.07 away from home, and an average of 11.67 match corners.

Game suggestions:

• Viking over 5 corners gives 1.73, possibly over 5.5 to 2.00 is a very exciting bet considering last year's statistics.
• Both teams to score at 1.64, or both teams to score + over 2.5 goals at 2.05 may also be relevant due to the results in the pre-season.
• There have been falling odds on over 3 goals in total, it started at 2.57 and went down to 2.15 and has now gone up to 2.31, which suggests it could be a good value bet.

Conclusion:

The first game of the season is always difficult, you don't know where you have the teams 100%, and there may be slightly varying bets from the clubs before the league has "settled down". Vålerenga is a slight favorite with the bookmakers with 2.40 odds against Vikings 2.86.

Looking at the last 10 seasons and the opening matches of Vålerenga and Viking, they are statistically quite similar. Vålerenga is 6-2-2 and has a goal difference of 11-6, they have scored in 8 of 10 matches, and have kept a clean sheet in 5 of them. Vålerenga's goal average has been 1.1 per match. Viking is 6-0-4 and has a goal difference of 13-8, they have scored in 7 of 10 matches, and have also kept a clean sheet in 5 of them. Viking's goal average has been 1.3 goals per match.

Since this is the first round, we're reducing the risk a bit. Both teams have scored a fair number of goals in the pre-season, but we end up with the following bets:

Eliteserien at 14:30: Vålerenga – Viking: Both teams to score (1.64)