Betting Tip
Vikingur arrive in Thun at the peak of their season. The Icelandic league is in full swing, and Solvi Ottesen's side are top: 14 wins, two draws and one defeat in 17 rounds, with a goal difference of 56:14. Their European summer has also been respectable. They got past Gyor (1:0 at home and 2:2 away), beat Hapoel Be'er Sheva (2:1) and went out only on aggregate. Last autumn, Vikingur played in the league phase of the UEFA Conference League, so the level of opposition does not faze them. Elias Mar Omarsson has already scored 12 goals in 14 league rounds.
For Thun, it is the opposite. The Swiss side started their season on 25 July and have already taken a blow they have not recovered from within a week: on 1 August, Young Boys thrashed the champions at home (6:0) — the worst home defeat in the club's history. Before that came elimination by Dinamo Zagreb, where Thun led 2:0 away and still lost in extra time. Leonardo Bertone left in the summer, Gian-Luca Privetelli took over the team, and against Young Boys the hosts simply ran out of substitutions.
The win in Lucerne (3:1) in the opening round can be misleading. Privetelli changed eight players then and got a fresh team against opponents without rhythm. The more important point is this: at home in Europe this summer, Thun have not won at all, it finished 1:1 against Dinamo, and the Swiss have not produced a big scoreline against anyone.
Add in the two-legged format. The return match in Reykjavik is still to come, and after Saturday's thrashing the hosts will act more cautiously than a favourite normally should. Vikingur keep things compact away from home and are fully capable of taking an acceptable result back with them.