Valur Rejkjavik vs Vikingur Reykjavik Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

It’s been a tough month for Valur so far. July saw them give up top spot in the Urvalsdeild, while they crashed out of the Champions League on Wednesday night. The Icelandic champions will be out to regroup and claim a victory in this game, as they push to retain their domestic title. They’ll be looking to return home and boost their morale with a victory against Vikingur here, but could the hosts pose a threat after back to back away wins?

While Vikingur are one of the league’s form sides right now, there’s little comparison with Valur. The champions are looking really strong domestically, they just slightly took their eye off the ball ahead of a crunch Champions League tie. Their meeting with Rosenborg was going well, until an injury time penalty dumped them out of the competition. They had been set to progress on away goals after an 85th minute penalty of their own, but Nicklas Bendtner hit a late spot-kick to put the Norwegian side in to the next round.

That disappointment is something Valur will need to bounce back from. Given that they’ve won three home league games on the bounce, we don’t expect them to have too many problems here. They’ve also managed to win four of their last six at home to Vikingur, so this Reykjavik derby should fall in favour of the champions. The only worry for the hosts is defensively, and that could lead to an exciting clash on Saturday.

The visitors have scored 1.33 goals per game on the road, while 100% of Valur’s home matches have seen at least three goals scored. We expect the hosts to be in top form in front of goal once again, having averaged 2.17 goals per game in front of their own fans in the Urvalsdeild. The hosts have still been winning games despite their issues at the back, and we don’t see that changing. A home win with over 2.5 goals to be scored in the game is our tip here, as we expect Valur to win a high scoring encounter with their city rivals.

The hosts may be champions, but they are also yet to keep a clean sheet at home. They’ve seen both teams score in every home match, and in 67% of their league games overall. The visitors are looking strong up front, while they’ve scored eight times in their last six visits to this group. We see them hitting another goal in a Valur victory, so we’re going with a home win and BTTS, along with a 3-1 success for Valur.