Thursday 14/08/2014, 19:00, Norway Cup, Lillestrom vs Sarpsborg

Lillestrom vs Sarpsborg Preview

Lillestrom hopes to extend its invincible run in the Norwegian cup, but they seem to have a hard time scoring goals against stringy defenses. Sarpsborg is a far better team when playing in front of their fans, but on the road they greatly improved their play over the last couple of weeks. Cup games are different from those played in the domestic championship, with teams taking fewer chances and narrow margin victories abound.

Lillestrom vs Sarpsborg Odds

At Bet365

Lillestrom 1.65, Draw 3.70, Sarpsborg 5.00

Lillestrom vs Sarpsborg Tips

Lillestrom fans have good reasons to be frustrated for their team's recent performance on the road, because once again they were held scoreless. While this has been the rule in early August and late July, the upsetting part about the recent scoreless draw has to do with the fact that they played against the worst team in the division.

Collecting three points against Sandnes seems to be within reach, but somehow they missed out on numerous opportunities to score. On the bright side, Lillestrom were lucky not to allow a goal in the final minutes of the match, which was dominated by the home side. Overall, they need to make certain amendments in their offensive, because using this single striker is obviously not working for them.

Fofana has played in all games but it's been a while since he scored, while Friday played just eight matches this season and is tied with the aforementioned striker at 4 goals. Both of them are expected to play tonight, because the fans are starting to lose patience and another scoreless draw would be too much.

On the other hand, Sarpsborg has finally stabilized the team and over the last 12 games, they only lost twice, each time against Haugesund. It looks like this particular team got their number, because they scored a combined six goals without allowing one. Otherwise, Sarpsborg was pretty effective at defending against better teams, while being extremely dangerous on counterattacks.

Key Facts

• Lillestrom drew for the last five games and three of those draws were scoreless ones.
• In six games played between the two teams with Lillestrom as hosts, Sarpsborg won twice and drew three times, while losing just once, three years ago.

Lillestrom vs Sarpsborg Prediction

Lillestrom is regarded as favorite to win tonight by most bookmakers and the odds have decreased a lot since they were first posted. There is no obvious reason for underestimating Sarpsborg, but the fact that bookies do it anyway, is great news for punters. It is still possible to enjoy odds of 1.70 for the visitors not to lose by more than one goal. If this happens, the stakes are reimbursed, which is quite refreshing given Lillestrom's recent inability to score.

Bet: Sarpsborg +1.0 goals @ 1.70 with Bet365