Preview: Molde vs. SK Brann - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors head into the clash occupying third position, with an eight-point gap behind league leaders Bodo/Glimt.

Match preview

Having won the Eliteserien title for the fifth time in the club's history last season, Molde's title defence has not exactly gone to plan since the campaign began in April.

Taking only one point from their opening four matches immediately put Erling Moe's side on the back foot, but they have shown title-challenging form since by winning six of their last nine games.

However, they were hugely frustrated not to gain ground on Bodo/Glimt at the summit when dropping two points away to them last weekend, after Ola Brynhildsen's brace had given them a two-goal lead at half-time.

In fairness to Molde, they had worked wonders to get themselves in that position considering they had lost their goalkeeper Jacob Karlstrom to a 17th-minute dismissal when the scoreline was goalless, but Ulrik Saltnes' injury-time equaliser could prove pivotal at the end of the season.

Moe, who has remained in charge since replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2018, will be determined for his players to take the positives from that draw, even though it would have felt like a defeat in the dressing room afterwards. They must bounce back with a win this weekend, though, otherwise they could find Bodo/Glimt moving too far out of reach.

Likewise, Brann will be hoping to continue to make up ground on the league leaders after their 2-1 victory against HamKram last time out cut the deficit to single figures.

However, Eirik Horneland's side were hardly expected to challenge at the top end of the table after only gaining promotion as champions of the second tier last time out.

Brann do have recent form for taking to the top division like a duck to water, though, having finished as runners-up in 2016 immediately after bouncing back to the Eliteserien at the first attempt.

Horneland's side clearly carry plenty of pedigree having beaten Lillestrom to lift the Norwegian Cup in May, and they will be dreaming of putting a run together and winning the club's fourth Eliteserien title later this year.

Molde Norwegian Eliteserien form:

L

W

W

L

W

D

SK Brann Norwegian Eliteserien form:

W

W

W

D

L

W

Team News

Molde will be without Karlstrom through suspension after his red card against Bodo/Glimt, with Oliver Petersen likely to replace him between the posts after being introduced from the bench last time out.

Martin Ellingsen and Eirik Ulland Andersen are expected to remain sidelined through knee injuries, with Moe unlikely to make any other changes to his starting XI after seeing them come so close to a miraculous victory against the league leaders with only 10-men for the majority of the game.

Brann, meanwhile, are likely to travel without Ruben Kristiansen and Aune Heggebo due to muscle strains.

Similarly to his forthcoming counterpart, Horneland may see little reason to make any alterations to his team after they delivered a 2-1 victory for him in their most recent fixture.

Molde possible starting lineup:

Petersen; Haugan, Bjornbak, Risa; Linnes, Eriksen, Mannsverk, Breivik, Haugen; Kitolano, Brynhildsen

SK Brann possible starting lineup:

Dyngeland; Crone, Knudsen, Sery, Torsvik; Wassberg, Pedersen, Myhre; Blomberg, Finne, Borsting

We say: Molde 2-1 SK Brann

After making an extremely poor start to their title defence, Molde appear to have rediscovered their winning groove in recent times, with Moe's side desperately unfortunate not to close the gap on Bodo/Glimt last time out.

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