Back in April, Fram Reykjavík ran ÍBV off the pitch at Lambhagavöllur, 5–1, in charge almost from the first whistle. Now the tie flips, and the return is played at Hásteinsvöllur, where ÍBV — from the Vestmannaeyjar, the islands off Iceland's south coast — have won their last three home games in the league: Keflavík 6–1, Stjarnan 2–1, Valur 1–0. Same opponent, entirely different setting. Fram sit third and are chasing a European place; ÍBV are settled in mid-table. Yet look at the last six games and the two are identical. The question is whether home advantage is enough for ÍBV to close a gap that the table and the head-to-head both insist is real.
The market
No market available.
Fram arrive with the goals flowing. Seventeen in their last six, including a 6–1 win over Þór in the most recent round, where Haraldur Einar Ásgrímsson scored twice in six minutes, and a Atli Þór Jónasson double away at ÍA. The catch is at the other end: thirteen conceded across the same run, and a 0–5 home hammering by Víkingur right in the middle of it. The attack is fine. The defence is open to pace.
ÍBV tell the same story in reverse. Sixteen scored, nine conceded — but the big wins, the 6–1 and the 4–1, came at home and against the lower half, while the away trips have leaked. Last time out they shipped five at KR, three of them in a ten-minute spell. At home it's a different picture. Alex Freyr Hilmarsson, the captain, scored the winner against ten-man Valur, and Bjarki Björn Gunnarsson has been a sharp threat going forward. Aleksandar Linta, in his first season on the islands, has this side standing up far better at home than on the road — and that split is what the whole match turns on.
LAST 6 GAMES
The man ÍBV need to contain is Atli Þór Jónasson. He scored twice in the April meeting and added another brace at ÍA in late June — Fram's leading scorer and the player who makes their attack unpredictable, especially when Fred feeds him from the build-up. Fram want to play on the front foot, stretch the back line, and trust Atli Þór to find the gap.
ÍBV's task is simple to say and hard to do: shut the space behind midfield and stop Fram running at an exposed defence the way they did at Lambhagavöllur. At home this side has held its shape better, and Bjarki Björn and Vicente Valor are enough to punish at the other end. Get after Atli Þór early, keep him away from the box for the first half hour, and home advantage can turn this into the even contest the table says it shouldn't be. Let him loose, and the April story starts all over again.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
27 Apr 2026 · Besta deild · Lambhagavöllur · Fram 5–1 ÍBV
THE PICK
Both teams to score: Yes
Both sides score in bursts and both concede — five of ÍBV's last six and four of Fram's six have finished with goals at both ends, and neither has kept many clean sheets. At Hásteinsvöllur, where ÍBV have won three in a row and Fram turn up after a long journey, the signs point to an open game with goals in both nets and a final margin closer than fifteen points in the table would suggest.
The risk is that the gap in quality simply tells, as it did in April. Fram have scored in every away game recently, and if Atli Þór gets the same room as last time, the draw call comes apart quickly. Home form won't count for much then.
Rúnar Kristinsson, a former Iceland international, takes Fram out to the islands for this one — by ferry or by flight, both at the mercy of the weather — against Linta and his side. Kick-off is 14:00 at Hásteinsvöllur, an exposed ground where the wind can have the final say. Worth a look at the forecast before the whistle.