Velkommen tilbake! From the Arctic Circle of Tromsø to the docks of Oslo, pitches across Norway are finally thawing out in the spring sunshine and it’s almost time for Eliteserien to resume.

One of the great aspects of this game is that, unlike Fantasy Premier League (FPL), we are far from saturated with media consensus on the ‘optimal’ picks, transfers, chip strategies, etc., which for many lends the game an appealingly nostalgic feel that evokes the early days of FPL.

There’s so much more scope for finding your own hidden gems before they become widely publicised and, with the tougher pricing and six premiums staking competitive claims to a spot in our teams, generally a much wider variety between our squads. To get you started with your own research, here are a few key resources.

• For all your statistical requirements, Fotmob is your best bet. They feature extensive team and player stats from last season, as well as excellent match coverage including shot maps.
• An invaluable pre-season minutes tracker including full line-ups and formations, as well as goals and assists, can be found here (credit to Fantasy Markus for putting this together, and to Hibbo for bringing it to my attention).
• A fixture-ticker can be found here.

HOW DOES THE ELITESERIEN FANTASY GAME WORK?

For the most part, FPL managers who are new to Eliteserien Fantasy will find it very easy to adapt to the format. The rules are identical when it comes to points scoring, using free transfers (they have even mirrored FPL in introducing the ability to roll up to five this year, and in allowing free transfers to carry over after playing a chip), selling value of players, etc. The main differences are found in the chips and the differing structure of the season.

As in FPL, managers receive two Wildcards per season, with the second available from round 16. However, the Free Hit chip – here called ‘Rich Uncle’ – is slightly different in that you are given an unlimited budget for that Gameweek. There is no Triple Captain or Bench Boost; instead, we have ‘Attack! Attack!’ – double points for all of your Forwards, and ‘Two Captains’ – both your captain and vice-captain score double points.

Obviously, the March–December timeframe lends itself to a very different structure to the Premier League/FPL. There is a summer break around GW16 which often sees a substantial degree of transfer activity and may trigger that second Wildcard. You will also notice that there are three early DGWs in GW2, 5 and 8 – in Eliteserien these doubles (and later blanks) are instigated by clashes with European qualifying fixtures rather than with the Norwegian Cup. So, unlike in FPL, they are largely front-loaded, with last season seeing only two smaller later DGWs (GW19 + 22). Therefore, many Fantasy managers will opt to splurge their chips early on. 

It is also worth noting that the Fantasy deadline is always five minutes before the kick-off of the first match of the GW, so you will get to see at least one set of line-ups.

SIGN UP TO PLAY ELITESERIEN FANTASY 2025 HERE

TEAM GUIDES

Now, for the bulk of this article, I will present a team-by-team guide in order of last season’s final league positions, providing an overview of tactics, key Fantasy assets as well as recent transfers and how these may affect the new season. I’ll go into more depth on last season’s top six, not least because there was a hefty 13 points separating 6th-placed Fredrikstad from 7th-placed Strømsgodset, and only four points separating 7th from 14th (one place above the automatic relegation zone).

BODØ/GLIMT

Reigning champions Bodø/Glimt, currently embarked on their deepest-ever European run and set to face Lazio in the Europa League quarter-finals, look strong favourites to retain their Eliteserien title in 2025 and offer an unparalleled depth of Fantasy options all over the pitch. Lining up in a 4-3-3, they are virtually unchanged from last season, with the only signings being right winger Ole Blomberg from Brann and loanee Jens-Petter Hauge now joining on a permanent basis.

Penalty-taking number nine Kasper Høgh had a stuttering start after joining Glimt last season with a string of goalscoring cameos as he was eased in, and injuries/fitness issues ensuring that he only once strung together three consecutive 60+ minute appearances. Yet he still finished as the league’s second-highest scorer, averaging a goal every 90.5 minutes. And the early signs for this season are promising – since the conclusion of the league, he has started every one of Glimt’s seven Europa League ties.

Hauge and Blomberg are expected to take up the left and right-wing roles. The former made a slightly disappointing start to his Glimt return after a staggering 2019 (half) season (14G 10A in 18 appearances) which led to a big-money move to AC Milan, but finished the year with a flourish. Anchoring the midfield trio and responsible for direct free-kicks, Patrick Berg has recently begun to add a Rodri-esque ability to start chipping in with a steady stream of attacking returns and owners will be clamouring for more of his long-range screamers. On either side of Berg, Håkon Evjen is the creative heart of the midfield, while dynamic left-8 and personal favourite Ulrik Saltnes loves to burst into the box and carries a real goal threat, but may see some rotation with the more defensively-sound Sondre Fet in a horses-for-courses approach.

The attack-minded left-back Fredrik Bjørkan is currently the second-highest-owned Glimt player, and justifiably so after notching 12 attacking returns in addition to his nine clean sheets last year. Jostein Gundersen is the pick of the CBs for his ability to bring the ball out from the back and launch a precise through ball.

An opening fixture against newly-promoted Bryne looks primed for triple-up/captaincy potential, but they do face some decent defences including tricky trips to Molde, Fredrikstad and Tromsø in the lead-up to their DGW8, so balancing Glimt’s expensive yet explosive options against doublers from Brann, Viking and Rosenborg will be a key decision for our starting squads.

BRANN

Pipped to the title in the final two games of last season, Brann are likely to attract plenty of early interest with two DGWs in the first eight rounds. Enjoying a hefty price rise to 10.5m after inheriting penalty duties during his breakthrough season, left winger/inside forward Niklas Castro was top of the pile for points last season with nine goals and 10 assists, while Aune Heggebø supplanted the misfiring Bård Finne as their number nine midway through the season and finished with 11 goals from 15 starts. The departure of Blomberg looks set to hand the right-wing role to new signing Mads Hansen, although he may face some competition from Ulrik Mathisen. Probably the most technically gifted player in this Brann side, Felix Horn-Myhre tends to drift into the channels from the left 8 role and looks a strong candidate to top the assist count, while bonus magnet Emil Kornvig is a fairly popular value option at 5.5m.

11 clean sheets last season (joint-third in the league) perhaps doesn’t quite do justice to Brann’s true capabilities in this area, much of which may be down to the alternation between gung-ho Joachim Soltvedt and the more solid (now departed) Ruben Kristiansen at left-back. Their pre-season friendlies suggest this may remain a problem position, with Soltvedt, unlisted youngster Kvale and Japhet Sery Larsen all given a shot at starting there. Sery is typically a domineering centre-back with outstanding ball-carrying ability and a bit more set-piece threat than his zero goals would indicate and looks an excellent entry point to their defence at only 5m. Keeper Matias Dyngeland also looks good value at 5m.

VIKING

There is only one place to begin here and that is with Fantasy god Zlatko Tripic. 10 goals, 16 assists, an unparalleled xGI/90 of 0.91, a whopping 104 chances created (32 clear of nearest rival Eikrem), and a monopoly on set-pieces… it would be sheer madness to even consider going without the Viking captain. With three DGWs in the first eight, many managers will be looking to triple-up on the Stavanger side. Beyond Tripic, however, the remaining Viking spots are not entirely clear-cut, especially since no other (current) player topped 100 points last year. Centre forward Lars-Jorgen Salvesen has now departed for Derby County, leaving a hole up top for which Nicolas D’Agostino (who also took their most recent pre-season penalty with Tripic on the pitch) looks to be the likeliest candidate. Pre-season gametime has, however, been heavily shared with Sander Svendsen, Erik de Lanlay, Jakob Hansen and new recruit Hilmir Mikaelsson. Young winger Edvin Austbø is generating a fair bit of pre-season buzz and could be in line for a breakout campaign, while the versatile Sander Svendsen is usually good for around 10-12 attacking returns per season when given consistent minutes. Ostensibly the holding midfielder, Aussie Joe Bell has had a stellar pre-season with three goals and three assists and could represent a bargain at only 5m.

From a defensive point of view, however, there wasn’t much to get excited about with only eight clean sheets (ranking 10th). It looks as though they are attempting to address this with substantial transfer activity during the off-season: Sondre Langås followed Salvesen to Derby, while inbound are Martin Roseth and Anders Bærtelsen from Lillestrøm and Haugesund. Kristoffer Klaesson is expected to take over goalkeeper duties after Patrik Gunnarsson’s late-season departure for the Jupiler Pro League.

ROSENBORG

The most decorated club in Norwegian football history, Rosenborg have tailed off from the giddy heights of conquering Real Madrid in the 97-98 Champions League, but still boast some serious talent. Teenage sensation Sverre Nypan is Eliteserien’s MVP according to Transfermarkt and has been relentlessly linked with Arsenal and Manchester United. It’s not hard to see why with his graceful slaloming ability in tight spaces, wonderful quick feet and incisive movement. Capable of playing anywhere across the attacking midfield positions or even up front, he settled into a central midfield role last season and began to deliver on his promise with 15 attacking returns. Now priced up at 9m, he will undoubtedly be in high demand for Rosenborg’s DGWs 5 & 8, if not from the start. ‘Kjeks’ (biscuit) of the year award winner Ole Sæter ranks among the league’s finest pure 9s but, with an injury record that would make Reece James blush, was the source of much frustration last year. With his deputy Noah Holm failing to make much of an impression, Rosenborg have bolstered their options by bringing Dino Islamovic back from Allsvenskan.

Some OOP potential can be found in Adrian Pereira – classified as a defender, he has featured partly on the right wing in pre-season as well as towards the end of last year.  He also has a share of set-pieces and is more than capable of contributing attacking returns even from LB, making him the clear standout pick from a mid-table defence. Those looking to triple up might also consider left winger Emil Ceïde, or Pereira’s competition on the right, Marius Broholm.

MOLDE

Molde’s fifth-place finish last year was a huge disappointment for the potential title challengers, and having also lost on penalties to Fredrikstad in the Cup final, they missed out on European qualification for the first time since 2016. At times they played some of the most exciting attacking football in the league and were more than capable of going toe-to-toe with Glimt as in their thrilling 3-3 draw, but were let down by defensive inconsistencies and a worrying tendency to throw away leads late on.

Having exclusively employed a 3-5-2/3-4-2-1 formation with extremely attacking wing-backs, they now seem to have shifted to a 4-2-3-1 in their Conference League games and pre-season friendlies. Loanee Fantasy favourite Ola Brynhildsen has now departed for MLS, and young wing-back Mathias Løvik’s stellar performances have landed him a big-money move to Serie A. Last season the wing-backs – Løvik (left/right), Haugen (left), Linnes (right) and Stenevik (left, right and sometimes centre forward) – were highly lucrative but heavily rotation-prone gems/headaches depending on your luck; now, with Løvik gone, will the (potentially) reduced degree of rotation between the remaining three boost their Fantasy appeal or will the transition to a back four rein in their attacking license?

Further forward, 2024 was all about the relentless Kristian Eriksen and the mercurial Magnus Wolff Eikrem. Due to a raft of injuries up top, Eriksen was frequently pushed into a front two, and his incredible energy levels proved a nightmare for opposing backlines en route to his league-leading 14 goals. The partnership with second striker Eikrem – Wolff’s deft touch and vision perfectly complemented Kristian’s industrious running – was particularly fruitful, with the veteran chipping in with a further 12 goals and six assists. Now 34, fitness is increasingly a question mark for Eikrem, especially during the more congested phases of the schedule, but he remains an outstanding premium Fantasy asset and captaincy candidate.  

After his 2024 was derailed by an early injury, Fredrik Gulbrandsen will be hoping to nail down the centre-forward role this season and looks to have found some form in pre-season. Further Molde midfield options were rather thin last season, with the likes of Breivik and Hestad heavily rotated and not really offering sufficient threat to offset this. Early indications are that the double pivot will consist of playmaker Møller-Dæhli (a key cog in their possession-oriented system if not an outstanding Fantasy option) and one of Breivik/Enggård, with a possibility of any one of the three covering the 10 role in Eikrem’s absence.

FREDRIKSTAD

The major surprise package of last season, Fredrikstad stunned Brann with a 2-0 away win in GW2 and never looked back on course to a sixth-place finish in their first top-flight appearance since 2012. The foundation of their success was undoubtedly their defence, recording a league-leading 13 clean sheets. Goalkeeper Jonathan Fischer also ranked first for bonus points and third for saves, while left wing-back Stian Stray Molde notched up six goals and four assists to finish as the game’s highest-scoring defender. Both have unsurprisingly been handed more premium price tags of 5.5m and 6m this season.

Penalty taker and scorer of a spectacular direct corner, Morten Bjørlø was the star from an attacking perspective but has now left for Konyaspor, while the impressive Maï Traoré has joined Notts County. In truth though, Fredrikstad’s attack never really provided consistent Fantasy appeal, with industrious midfielder and occasional fill-in striker Sondre Sørløkk’s three goals and five assists the next best they could muster.  The squad has had quite an extensive overhaul during the winter break, with an array of midfield/forward signings including Shein, Faraas, Hanstad, Øhlenschlæger and Holten about whom I unfortunately know next to nothing, although Allsvenskan aficionados may recognise Holten, who will compete with Henrik Skogvold for the centre forward role.

An opening schedule including DGWs 2 and 8 provides incentive to hope that Fredrikstad can go some way toward matching last season’s heroics, but the substantial changes to their squad as well as the loss of manager Thomassen toward the end of last season lend a cloud of uncertainty over whether second-season syndrome may rear it’s head.

THE MID-TABLERS

Interest in Strømsgodset largely revolved around their defence, with Icelandic international Logi Tómasson carrying a substantial attacking threat from left back. He has also been popping up in an OOP left-wing role in pre-season. KFUM Oslo, the only YMCA team I’m aware of in top-flight football, massively overperformed expectations in their first-ever Eliteserien season, in large part due to the highest-scoring forward in the game, Johannes Andres Hummellvoll-Nuñez. In contrast to Fredrikstad, they come into 2025 with a largely unchanged side. Sarpsborg enjoyed an especially swingy 2024, at times flirting with relegation but finally landing in 9th place. A terrific side for the neutral viewer, they kept just three clean sheets in 30 matches but do boast one of the league’s most brilliant young wingers in Sondre Ørjasæter.

Sandefjord are unlikely to make much of a claim to our starting squads despite sporadic flashes of attacking quality from forward Stefan Sigurdarson and winger Jakob Dunsby. Despite a DGW2, Kristiansund have a similarly limited Fantasy appeal unless you’re the kind of oddball that gets your kicks from picking the amusingly named recent recruit from relegated Odds Ballklub, “Daddy’s Boy”. Goalkeeper Lansing did however rack up an impressive 120 saves last season. Their 4-0 pre-season victory over Molde might look impressive on paper but that was very much a second-string Molde line-up. The appeal of HamKam’s outstanding Fantasy performer of last season, set-piece maestro Gård Simenstad, has taken a significant dent with his OOP status revoked; he is now classified as a midfielder.

Tromsø’s 15th-placed finish belies a significantly greater degree of Fantasy potential. Having gutted the heart of their defence before the start of 2024 with the sales of Casper Øyvann and Jostein Gundersen to Molde and Glimt, they endured a horrendous start to the season but eventually stabilised and finished with a respectable nine clean sheets (joint third with Brann). They will surely rectify that this year and are more than capable of a top-half finish. Left wing-back Runar Norheim is emerging as a Fantasy asset capable of competing with the likes of Stray Molde and even Bjørkan; on free-kicks and corners, he contributed eight assists last year. Why Vegard Erlien continues to be classified as a midfielder despite playing exclusively in a front two is a mystery to me. He will be looking to bounce back from last season’s injury-hit campaign and return to the goalscoring form of 2023 which saw him net 15 times. He may be joined up top by fellow OOP candidate Napoleon Romsaas, although new signing Ieltsi Camões will provide competition for that spot.

THE ALMOST-RELEGATED AND THE FRESH MEAT

Scraping together just 29 goals last year, there was very little to recommend about Haugesund’s attack. With lead striker Sory Diara sidelined until June, they have however made a potentially interesting addition in Runar Espejord from Bodø/Glimt. Defensively they were no pushovers, but the loss of centre-back Bærtelsen to Viking, highly-rated keeper Egil Selvik to Udinese, and an injury to promising right-back Mikkel Hope doesn’t bode well for improving on last season’s 14th-place finish, which necessitated a relegation playoff tie against Moss to ensure their survival.

After their shock relegation in 2023 which saw them drop out of Norway’s top-flight for the first time in 22 years, Våleranga absolutely stormed the First Division scoring 2.7 goals per game. Bookies’ pre-season odds indicate an expected finish this year of around sixth place, and a DGW2 should spark some early interest. Stats from the First Division are a little hard to come by, but their pre-season friendlies suggest that left-winger Elias Sørensen and forward Muamer Brajanac may be worth a look.

Fellow promoted side Bryne seem like they could be 2025’s whipping boys, but the gap between Eliteserien and the First Division is a far cry from that between the Premier League and the Championship, so who knows whether they could follow in the footsteps of Fredrikstad/KFUM and spring a surprise.

COMMUNITY MINI-LEAGUES

Finally, I will leave you with a couple of mini-league codes, with thanks to hosts Mullered in Maenam (Koh Samui Classic) and The Knight’s Template (Hallen av Skam):

• Koh Samui Classic: fflual
• Hallen av Skam: peow06

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