When these sides met in Vestmannaeyjar in June, ÍBV took all three points at home, 2–1. Now, on the last day before the Besta deild divides into an upper and a lower group of six, Stjarnan get them back in Garðabær — and a chance to settle the score when it matters most. For ÍBV, the day is about staying out of the lower half; for Stjarnan, it's about climbing the table with a top-six place within reach. Two teams who have struggled at the back, meeting with their league status on the line.
The market
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Stjarnan arrive in uneven form. They lost two away games heavily in midsummer — 5–0 at KR and 5–1 at ÍA — around the time they were knocked out of the Europa Conference League, beaten on penalties by Ilves of Finland. Then came two straight wins: 3–2 away at Valur, and a home win over Keflavík in which Bjarki Hauksson scored the only goal. No confirmed absences this far out, and the Round 19 result against Fram was still unsettled at the time of writing.
ÍBV are having a harder time of it. They haven't won in five — two draws and three defeats — and haven't kept a clean sheet in any of them, shipping ten goals across that run. There is life going forward, at least: Omar Sowe scored against ÍA, and Róbert Elís Hlynsson was among the scorers in a 2–2 draw with Víkingur. The problem for Þorlákur Árnason's side sits at the back, and it travels with them now to an away game that could decide which half of the league they land in.
RECENT FORM
This one likely turns on whether ÍBV can finally shut the door at the back. They haven't kept a clean sheet in five, and they travel to face a team that can score in bunches when the mood takes it — Stjarnan put three past Valur and have shown the attack works when it finds a rhythm.
The flip side is that Stjarnan have leaked badly themselves at their worst, ten goals across two games in high summer. If Sowe and company are given room up top, ÍBV have every chance of answering back.
The key question is simple: can an ÍBV defence that hasn't kept a clean sheet in five tighten up on the road, with their league half at stake? Keep it tight early and their chances of repeating the June result grow. Let the game open up and Stjarnan have more ways to the goal.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
THE PICK
Both teams to score: Yes
The pick is a Stjarnan home win in a game with goals. ÍBV are without a win in five, haven't kept a clean sheet in any of them, and now travel to a side that has just rediscovered its scoring touch. Both teams have found the net regularly of late, and leaky defences at both ends point to more goals rather than fewer.
The risk lies in Stjarnan's volatility. This is a team that lost two games by a combined ten goals a few weeks ago, and ÍBV won the last meeting between them, 2–1. If the visitors keep it tight and low-scoring — the way they did in those 0–1 and 1–2 defeats — both the goals line and the home win are in trouble.
ÍBV have to get to the mainland from Vestmannaeyjar, the islands off the south coast — by ferry or by plane, both weather-dependent — so it's worth watching the forecast around the weekend. But more than the journey is at stake. This is the last match before the league splits, and for ÍBV the day could decide whether they end up in the relegation group.