Crusaders v Rosenborg Preview From Harald Brattbakk

on July 25, 2023 at 1:29 pm

Here at BoyleSports we sat down with former Celtic and Rosenborg striker Harald Brattbakk who gave us his Crusaders v Rosenborg preview.

Irish Premiership side Crusaders will take on Norwegian club Rosenborg, who Brattbakk used to play for, in a Europa Conference League qualifier this Thursday. The winner will play Hearts in the next round.

The ex-Celtic star talks us through what Crusaders can expect in this game and who they should be wary of on the Rosenborg side.

Crusaders v Rosenborg Match Info

When? 8pm, Thursday, July 27th.

Where? Seaview, Belfast Northern Ireland.

Betting Odds

Crusaders – 9/2

Rosenborg – 11/20

The Draw – 3/1

Rosenborg’s Conference League Prospects

How far can Rosenborg go in the Conference League this season?

They’ve got a good squad in terms of the quality of players, but my question is whether or not they can play well together as a team or not.

It’s one thing to beat teams you know very little about at the early stages of the competition, but it’s something else coming up against better quality teams who have experience of this level. On any other given season, I would say Rosenborg would be the favourites to go through, but they’re not clicking as a team this season on the domestic scene.

Also, if they do go through, they have to play two games against Hearts in the next round. That means they have got four very tough games to get there before they can even think about going far into this competition. They are good enough to go through, but they do need to improve on their quality.

Rosenborg Should Be Targeting Conference League

Is this a great time for Crusaders to play Rosenborg with everything going on?

I hope that the management sees the Conference League as an opportunity to galvanise the squad and not as an obstruction. The only way to improve is to continue to play games together; they’ve had two games where they have been much better recently.

That will give them a bit of confidence, but getting a result in any competition is beneficial to any manager and his squad.

Rosenborg’s Players To Watch Out For

Who are the danger men that Crusaders should be wary of?

I would say Sverre Nypan – the matchwinner in the last game – he is only 16 years old, but he is mature and he has proven he can be a player to count on. We don’t want to put the weight on all of his shoulders, but also Ole Saeter. He has been doing a lot of talking with his mouth lately, he has been saying a lot. He hasn’t played many games lately, but he can perform well in the right mood.

One thing that Rosenborg are also missing is the captain, Henriksen, he’s got a ligament injury so he will be out for the season. The squad is wide enough, but those forward players as well as Carlo Holse are the real dangermen that Crusaders will have to be wary of. Rosenborg needs to organise their attacking formation when they have the ball and learn how to break down teams a bit better.

If they are going to go through against Crusaders, they are going to need to create chances and produce some goals – those three attacking players are going to be the most important for Rosenborg.

Click Below For All Our Crusaders v Rosenborg Odds