Eliteserien Fantasy 2026 Round 19 Preview

Eliteserien Fantasy Round 19 tips: best buys, captain picks and hidden gems

Round 19 of Eliteserien Fantasy is the first round back after the international break, and it is one of the most lopsided slates of the season. Three home sides are priced as heavy favourites, and the gap between the best and worst fixture in the round is enormous. The deadline is Saturday 29 August at 14:55, and the round runs across two days.

The obvious part is easy: Viking and Bodø/Glimt assets are good, and most managers already know that. The round will actually be decided by the six or seven squad slots after those names, and by one specific trap — a set of players whose Round 19 fixture is superb but whose next three rounds fall off a cliff. That distinction is the whole preview.

Round 19 fixtures: where the goals are projected

Three matches dominate the round. Viking host the side with the lowest projected attack in the game, Vålerenga host a Molde team the model gives almost no chance on the road, and Bodø/Glimt host Rosenborg. Full fixture list and kick-off times are on the Eliteserien Fantasy schedule page.

The KFUM row is the one most managers will skim past. KFUM are only 43% to win away at Start, so they look ordinary at first glance — but Start are projected for just 0.95 goals, which gives KFUM a 39% clean sheet chance, the third best in the round and better than Bodø/Glimt's. That combination of a modest team in a very cheap price bracket facing a toothless opponent is where the value sits this week. You can sanity-check any of these numbers on the market probabilities page.

The multi-round picture: who to actually invest in

Round 19 in isolation is misleading, so here is how the next five rounds look for the sides worth owning. Viking and Bodø/Glimt hold up; Vålerenga do not.

• Bodø/Glimt — [H]Rosenborg then [A]Fredrikstad, [H]Sandefjord, [A]Brann, [H]Kristiansund BK. Win probabilities of 0.73, 0.67, 0.73, 0.48, 0.87. The best sustained run in the league, and the reason their midfielders top the weighted rankings.
• Viking — [H]Aalesund, [A]Sandefjord, [H]Kristiansund BK, [H]Lillestrøm, [A]Brann. 0.83, 0.51, 0.82, 0.65, 0.41. Excellent, with two more home banker fixtures inside the window.
• Vålerenga — [H]Molde and then it collapses: [A]Sarpsborg 08, [A]Lillestrøm, [H]Fredrikstad, [A]KFUM at 0.26, 0.21, 0.43 and 0.23. This is a one-round spike, not an investment.
• Kristiansund BK — 0.23, 0.24, 0.07, 0.28, 0.04. Avoid entirely, in every position.

That Vålerenga line is the key strategic call of the round. Their assets are genuinely among the best plays in Round 19 and genuinely among the worst holds for Round 20 onwards. With one free transfer per round and a 4-point hit to move again, buying a Vålerenga player now means accepting you are likely paying a hit to leave — so it only makes sense for the very highest-scoring option, not for three of them.

Best midfielders to buy

Zlatko Tripic (12.6m, Viking) is the best player in the game right now and the numbers do not leave much room for debate: 8.20 projected points for Round 19, the highest in the round, on a 0.67 assist projection and a 0.91 penalty share. His six-round decay-weighted score of 25.92 is the highest in the game by a clear margin, and his trajectory barely dips — 8.2, 6.3, 8.1, 6.7, 5.7, 7.3. He is 65.6% owned, so he is not a differential, but he is the one template player genuinely worth the price.

Lucas Ravn-Haren (6.6m, Vålerenga) is the headline pick of this preview. He carries the second-highest projection in the entire round at 7.70 points, on a 0.67 goal projection at home to a Molde side given a 7% chance of winning — and he is owned by just 2.0% of managers. There is no premium price attached and no real competition for his role. The catch is the one above: his trajectory reads 7.7, 4.2, 3.7, 5.4, 3.5, 3.9, so this is explicitly a one-to-two round buy, not a season hold.

Ole Blomberg (9.8m, Bodø/Glimt) is the premium alternative to Tripic if you want the fixtures rather than the ceiling. 5.80 points for Round 19, a 0.89 penalty share, and a weighted score of 20.53 that is third best in the game — with only 12.1% ownership. Where Tripic is the safe template captain, Blomberg is the premium you can actually gain rank with.

Heine Åsen Larsen (6.2m, Tromsø) is the most efficient mid-price midfielder available. 5.50 points at home to Sarpsborg 08, and a weighted-points-per-million figure of 3.03, one of the highest in the game outside the budget goalkeepers. His trajectory is unusually flat (5.5, 5.4, 4.4, 5.8, 4.9, 4.9), which makes him the rare mid-price player you can buy and then ignore for a month.

Bilal Njie (5.4m, KFUM) is the budget enabler. 4.70 points, a weighted score of 16.37, and a penalty share of 1.00 — he is the model's sole projected penalty taker for KFUM, which is a serious ceiling boost at that price. His weighted PPM of 3.03 matches Larsen's at nearly a million cheaper, and his Round 21 projection of 5.8 is higher than his Round 19 one, so he improves as you hold him.

Alternatives if you already own those: Felix Va (6.4m, Lillestrøm) at 6.10 points with a 0.40 penalty share, and Aksel Baran Potur (5.5m, Hamarkameratene) at 5.50 points on a clean 1.00 points per million. Compare the full list on the Eliteserien Fantasy player picks page.

Best forwards to buy

Peter Christiansen (10.6m, Viking) has the highest goal projection in the round at 0.74, playing 84 projected minutes at home to the weakest attack in the division. 7.00 points for Round 19 and 21.55 weighted across six rounds, second only to Tripic. At 36.7% ownership he is closer to template than differential, but the Viking fixture run supports holding him well beyond this round.

Mathias Grundetjern (7.6m, Vålerenga) is the cheaper way into the Molde fixture at 6.60 points and a 0.66 goal projection. The same one-round caveat applies — 3.9 and 3.3 in the two rounds after — so treat him as a short-term play or skip him for the option below.

Andreas Helmersen (8.3m, Bodø/Glimt) is the forward to own if you would rather not churn. 5.50 points now, 18.43 weighted, with a 0.58 goal projection and a fixture run that never really turns. He is only 12.8% owned.

Best defenders to buy

Kolbeinn Finnsson (5.1m, Vålerenga) is the highest-projected defender in the round at 6.40 points — higher than every midfielder outside the top five — on 88 projected minutes behind a 40% Vålerenga clean sheet chance. He is owned by 1.9% of managers. For one round he is close to unmissable at that price; just be honest that his next two rounds project 2.7 and 2.5.

Jonas Lange Hjorth (4.8m, KFUM) is the better hold. 5.30 points behind that same 39% KFUM clean sheet, 1.104 points per million, and a weighted score of 15.28 that beats defenders costing three million more. Round 21 projects 5.6, higher than this week. Ownership is 1.0%.

Håkon Hoseth (4.5m, KFUM) is the cheapest route into the same clean sheet at 4.50 points behind the same 39% shutout chance — a straight 1.000 points per million and a genuine budget-freeing pick.

If you want a premium defender, Fredrik Sjøvold (7.8m, Bodø/Glimt) at 4.50 points and 15.50 weighted remains solid, though at 38.1% ownership he offers no edge over the field.

Goalkeepers

This is the position where the round is quietly won, because the best option is also the cheapest. Håvar Jenssen (3.8m, KFUM) is the top-projected keeper in Round 19 at 4.40 points on that 39% clean sheet chance, and at 3.47 he has the best weighted points-per-million figure of any player in the game. Pairing him with Hjorth or Hoseth doubles up on the same KFUM shutout for under nine million combined.

Arild Østbø (4.3m, Viking) has the single highest clean sheet probability in the round at 40% behind that Aalesund fixture, and Oscar Hedvall (5.0m, Vålerenga) matches it at 40% against Molde for 4.00 points. Any of the three is defensible; Jenssen is the one that frees up the most budget. Projected line-ups are updated on the predicted line-ups page as they firm up.

Captaincy: who to captain in Round 19

Captain Zlatko Tripic. He has the highest projection in the round at 8.20, he takes Viking's penalties with a 0.91 share, and he faces the side with the lowest projected goal output in the league. There is no argument for anyone else as the safe pick, and the projected points for every Eliteserien Fantasy player back it up.

The differential captain is Lucas Ravn-Haren at 7.70 — a projection within half a point of Tripic's, from a player owned by 2.0% of managers. If you are chasing in a mini-league, that is the highest-leverage armband available all season.

Peter Christiansen at 7.00 is the third option and the one with the highest pure goal threat of the three, with a 0.74 goal projection. Mathias Grundetjern (6.60) and Kolbeinn Finnsson (6.40) round out the realistic top five, though captaining a defender is rarely correct even at that number.

Hidden gems and differentials

These are the low-ownership picks the model rates well above the field:

Edvin Austbø (8.6m, Viking) deserves a specific mention: 6.10 projected points and a 17.51 weighted score from the best fixture in the round, at 2.2% ownership. He is the Viking midfielder nobody has, in a squad where almost everyone owns Tripic.

Remember the three-players-per-club cap when building around these. Vålerenga alone offer four picks projected above 4.7 points this round, and you can only take three of them — Ravn-Haren, Grundetjern and Finnsson are the highest, in that order. The live solver on the optimal teams page handles that constraint for you and will give you the exact optimum for your budget.

Who to sell before Round 19

Jakob Haugaard (5.0m, Tromsø) is the urgent one. The model projects him zero minutes and 0.00 points in every one of the next six rounds, with Ole Kristian Gjefle Lauvli projected as Tromsø's keeper on 89 minutes instead. Haugaard is still owned by 31.3% of managers, and the Eliteserien predicted line-ups are the quickest way to confirm it before the deadline. If you are one of them, this is the transfer to make — and Lauvli at 4.3m is both the direct replacement and a 0.1%-owned differential.

Emil Breivik (7.7m, Molde) is the second. He is the second-most-owned player in the game at 50.4%, and Molde travel to Vålerenga with a 7% win probability and a 0.92 goal projection. He projects 2.60 points. His fixtures do improve sharply afterwards (4.7 and 4.9 in Rounds 20 and 21), so this is a bench-or-sell call rather than a permanent exit.

Amin Chiakha (7.7m, Rosenborg) at 25.5% ownership projects 2.90 points away at Bodø/Glimt, where Rosenborg are 12% to win with a 6% clean sheet chance. Dino Islamovic (8.0m, Rosenborg) is worse still at 1.00 projected points and should not be started.

One less obvious sell: Henrik Heggheim (6.3m, Viking) is owned by 31.4% of managers and projects only 2.50 points despite having the best fixture in the round. Owning the right club is not the same as owning the right player — Sondre Bjørshol (4.90) and Gianni Stensness (4.10) are both projected far higher among Viking's defenders.

Summary

Captain Tripic, or Ravn-Haren if you want the aggressive differential. Fund the round through KFUM's cheap clean sheet — Jenssen, Hjorth and Hoseth are all under five million against the weakest attack in the round. Take Vålerenga assets for Round 19 with your eyes open about Round 20, and use Bodø/Glimt and Viking players as the longer holds. Above all, move Haugaard if you still have him. Check the rest of the run-in before you commit a transfer you cannot reverse for free.

For more analysis across the season, see our Eliteserien Fantasy preview hub and the Round 18 preview, or browse the fantasy football guides for strategy fundamentals.

FAQ

Who should I captain in Eliteserien Fantasy Round 19?

Zlatko Tripic is the top captain pick with 8.20 projected points, the highest in the round. He takes Viking's penalties with a 0.91 share and plays at home against Aalesund, who have the lowest projected attack in the round at 0.91 goals. Lucas Ravn-Haren at 7.70 is the differential alternative at just 2.0% ownership, and Peter Christiansen at 7.00 is the third option.

Who are the best differentials for Round 19?

Lucas Ravn-Haren (6.6m, Vålerenga) is the standout at 2.0% ownership with 7.70 projected points, the second-highest in the round. Bilal Njie (5.4m, KFUM) is owned by 0.2% and takes his side's penalties with a 1.00 share. Edvin Austbø (8.6m, Viking) at 2.2% ownership offers 6.10 points from the best fixture of the round, and Kolbeinn Finnsson (5.1m) is the top-projected defender at 1.9% ownership.

Which budget players are best in Round 19?

KFUM provide the best cheap options because Start are projected for only 0.95 goals, giving KFUM a 39% clean sheet chance. Håvar Jenssen (3.8m) is the top-projected goalkeeper in the round at 4.40 points and the best weighted points-per-million pick in the game at 3.47, Håkon Hoseth (4.5m) returns 4.50 points at a clean 1.000 points per million, and Jonas Lange Hjorth (4.8m) offers 5.30 points. Kolbeinn Finnsson at 5.1m is the highest-scoring cheap defender at 6.40.

Should I sell Jakob Haugaard?

Yes. The model projects Haugaard zero minutes and 0.00 points across all six of the next rounds, with Ole Kristian Gjefle Lauvli projected as Tromsø's starting goalkeeper on 89 minutes. Haugaard remains 31.3% owned, so a large share of managers are carrying a keeper who is not projected to play. Lauvli at 4.3m is the cheapest direct replacement.

Are Vålerenga players worth buying for Round 19?

For Round 19 only. Vålerenga host Molde with an 81% win probability and 3.19 projected goals, and three of their players rank in the round's top six projections. But their next four rounds project win probabilities of 0.26, 0.21, 0.43 and 0.23, so anyone you buy now will likely need moving again. With one free transfer per round, limit yourself to the highest-scoring one or two rather than loading up on three.

This preview was written by TheFantasyTool AI - verified by Nicolai @ TheFantasyTool