Icelandic Football
2013-05-20 - Thor Akureyri vs Vikingur Olafsvik
A Sports Betting Pick by Cornholio
Icelandic top league - Round 4
Monday 20 May 2013, Kickoff 17:00 GMT
An important game between the two relegation candidates. The hosts are playing in the top league for the second time in three years while the visitors are there for the first time. Both teams have had a bad start losing all three games. Will either one manage to get their first win here?
Thor Akureyri
Even though Thor Akureyri have had a difficult program in the first three rounds where they faced Breidablik, FH and KR it can not justify their terrible start. Losing all games with a scoreline of 1:10 has made Thor the laughing stock with people saying this must be the worst team ever to play in the top league.
Thor's manager is not happy about some of the nasty comments and demands respect for the players and the club. The game against Vikingur Olafsvik is a great chance to earn that respect and show that they can play for the whole 90 minutes instead of collapsing in some moment in the game.
Thor's defense has been awful and their frontline isn't exactly producing too many chances. Their start back in 2011 was better where they got one win in the first three rounds and conceded only 3 goals.
Failing to produce something against Vikingur Olafsvik will already put Thor in a very difficult position.
Vikingur Olafsvik
More was expected from newcomers Vikingur Olafsvik when they entered the top league for the first time in their history. They have lost their first three games, including two home games where they must collect some points if they are to survive.
Their scoreline is 4:8 and the positive thing for them is that they have scored in all three games. However, their defense is weak and they have still to face the strongest teams in the league.
In last round they got the lead against a fairly weak Keflavik team but went on losing 1-3 after conceding three times in the last 25 minutes. It looks like they don't have the stamina for the whole 90 minutes, pretty much like Thor Akureyri.
The transfer window closed last Wednesday and Vikingur Olafsvik managed to get in some Eastern-European players but their manager says it has been difficult getting Icelandic players on loan. Whether the new players will make impact is too early to say but it can't really get any worse and if they are ever to win in the league, let alone win on the road, than this will be their chance since they should be able to produce some goals against Thor's terrible defense.
Head to head
Only 3 meetings with Thor winning both games last year in Division one and also winning in the Icelandic Cup back in 2009. All three games were over 2.5 goals with both teams scoring.
Betting verdict
It's hard to go for the 1x2 since both teams have been quite bad and their defenses weak. Still, I would give the home team a little edge here but looking a their defenses and the fact that Vikingur have scored in all games I'm leaning into the overs bet here.
I also like the stats since 2011 when 8 of Thor's 11 home games went over 2.5 goals including the game against the other team that got relegated.
On top of that, even if the games aren't that many, all three head to head games went over 2.5 goals and in last season, for example, both games between the teams who relegated were over 2.5 goals.
The Pick :
Thor Akureyri 2-2 Vikingur Olafsvik
