Preview: FK Haugesund vs. Odd - prediction, team news, lineups

Odd will be bidding to make it three Eliteserien victories in a row when they continue their league campaign away to FK Haugesund on Sunday afternoon.

The visitors are currently eighth in the table, boasting 16 points from their opening 12 matches of the season, while Haugesund are 12th, four points behind their opponents in this contest.

Match preview

Haugesund have found it difficult to show consistency in the early stages of the campaign, winning three, drawing three and losing five of their 11 matches to collect 12 points, which has left them in 12th position.

The Seagulls, who finished 10th in the top flight last term, will enter this match off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Molde on June 25, which proved to be their second loss in their last three games in all competitions.

That said, Jostein Grindhaug's side have won two of their last three league games, with their recent form leaving them three points clear of the relegation zone.

Haugesund claimed fourth in the Eliteserien in 2018, which has been their best finish since gaining promotion from the second tier in 2016, but it does appear that they could struggle to repeat that this term.

The Rogaland-based outfit have picked up eight points from their five home league games this term, while Odd have been relatively solid on their travels, claiming eight points from seven matches.

Odd will enter this match off the back of successive 1-0 wins over Molde and HamKam, with the victories moving them onto 16 points, which is enough for eighth position at this stage of the campaign.

The Skien-based side are only three points behind fifth-placed Molde and will certainly be looking up the table rather than down at this stage of the season.

Odd have never won the Eliteserien, but they have been runners-up on two occasions - in 1950-51 and 1956-57 - while they finished fifth in the top flight last term.

Pal Arne Johansen's side have, as mentioned, collected eight points on their travels this term, winning two, drawing two and losing three of their seven matches.

Odd have faced Haugesund on 33 previous occasions and lead the overall head-to-head record, winning 15 times and suffering 12 defeats, while the remaining six games have finished all square.

Team News

Haugesund will be without the services of Ibrahim Diarra, who was sent off in the latter stages of the team's narrow defeat at Molde last time out.

Diarra's absence is a huge blow considering that he is the team's leading goalscorer this season with four, and he is expected to be replaced by Adrion Pajaziti.

The home side will also be missing Alexander Soderlund due to a thigh problem, but aside from Diarra, there are no fresh issues from the team's last match, so it is expected to be largely the same side.

Odd, meanwhile, have not reported any injury issues ahead of this match, so the visitors could have a full squad available for Sunday's contest.

Milan Jevtovic has been the team's main source of goals this season, finding the back of the net on five occasions, and the 30-year-old should come into the XI for this contest, having been an unused substitute against HamKam.

Head coach Johansen is expected to select close to the same team that featured from the first whistle last time out, with Filip Jorgensen again operating in a wide area.

FK Haugesund possible starting lineup:

Selvik; Therkildsen, Baertelsen, Krygard, Reese, Krusnell; Sande, Christensen, Leite; Nije, Pajaziti

Odd possible starting lineup:

Wahlstedt; Ruud, S Johansen, Hagen, Tomas, Baccay; Gjengaar, Owusu, Wallem, Jorgensen; Jevtovic

We say: FK Haugesund 2-2 Odd

There have been relatively few draws in the overall meetings between these two sides, and the form book certainly points to an Odd win on Sunday. Haugesund are more than capable of picking up a positive result, though, and we are expecting the points to be shared in this contest.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.