KR Reykjavík sit second in the Besta deild — Iceland's top flight — as matchday 14 comes around, but the defensive numbers don't match the position. Across their last five league games, KR have scored thirteen and conceded fourteen, close to three goals against per match. They find the net on a conveyor belt, yet still lose heavily when it matters most; the latest example is a 0–2 defeat at Víkingur. That flaw is exactly what ÍBV will be looking to exploit.
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The market
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Óskar Hrafn Þorvaldsson manages a side that has no trouble scoring. The problem is at the other end: no clean sheet in their last five and two heavy defeats — 3–6 to Breiðablik and 0–2 to Víkingur, a side unbeaten in the league for nearly a year. Ástbjörn Þórðarson has chipped in from defence with three league goals, but it tells you something when a defender is among the team's top scorers.
ÍBV, the side from the Vestmannaeyjar islands off the south coast, have turned things round under Aleksandar Linta after a rough start. They began badly — beaten 2–6 by KR, 1–5 by Fram, and stuck in a run of losses — before finding their feet. A big 6–1 win over Keflavík and a 4–1 away win at promoted Þór Akureyri show the attack can deliver when the mood is right, and a 1–1 draw at FH added another point. Even so, ÍBV remain in the lower half of the table and need points to climb clear of the bottom group before the league splits.
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RECENT FORM
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The big question is simple: can KR's open defence keep ÍBV quiet, or does the game stay stretched at both ends? KR are shipping close to three a game right now, and that is precisely the weakness ÍBV can punish when they're in form. By the reports available, Robert Elís Hlynsson is ÍBV's top scorer with four, and he should fancy his chances against a back line that has been struggling.
The counter is that KR score freely at home themselves, and Halldór Georgsson has held his place in goal almost all season. If KR take an early lead, ÍBV are forced to chase, and that opens things up further for the hosts on the break. But if ÍBV arrive with the same attacking intent they showed against Þór and Keflavík, this KR defence is not the one to shut the door. Either ÍBV keep a clean sheet — and little points that way — or this is a game with goals at both ends.
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HEAD-TO-HEAD
away win. Older records are unverified. ```
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THE PICK
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The pick is a home win with goals at both ends. KR score too freely at home for ÍBV to keep them down, but KR's defence is too open to shut out a side that has just put six past Keflavík and four past Þór. Everything points to both ends getting their share.
The risk is that ÍBV turn up in top form and KR, after a run of demanding games against the top sides, rein in the attack and focus on defending — if it goes 1–0 early and KR decide to lock it down, the under and even an upset come into play. But on the evidence of KR's recent defending, that's the less likely outcome.
This is an all-Icelandic occasion: the country's most decorated club, KR with 27 league titles, host ÍBV, an islands side that have been Icelandic champions three times (1979, 1997 and 1998). And as ever, ÍBV bring the journey across the water with them — the trip to the mainland is by ferry or flight, both at the mercy of the weather, a standing feature of every away day for the islanders.