Bodo/Glimt vs Start: Yellow Wall Ready to Roar as Glimt Seek Another Demolition Job
The Stage is Set in the Arctic
Aspmyra Stadium will host a midsummer friendly with genuine competitive edge on Saturday afternoon, as Bodo/Glimt welcome IK Start to the far north for a 16:00 kickoff. With the Norwegian summer in full swing and the midnight sun barely dipping below the horizon, this is the kind of occasion that makes football in Bodø feel utterly unique. But make no mistake — despite the friendly tag, there is plenty of recent history between these two sides to give this fixture a very real bite.
Glimt in Frightening Form
Bodo/Glimt arrive at this match on the back of a perfect three-from-three record in pre-season friendlies, having scored an extraordinary twelve goals while conceding just two. Their most recent outing saw them dismantle Molde 4-1 just days ago, and that result only reinforces what the numbers already shout loudly: this is a team playing with tremendous fluency and confidence. Averaging four goals per game, Kjetil Knutsen’s side have been particularly devastating in the opening half-hour, with two-thirds of their goals arriving before the interval. Start will need to be alert from the very first whistle inside Aspmyra Stadium, because Glimt have shown a ruthless habit of killing games early.
Start’s Inconsistency Could Prove Costly
The visitors from Kristiansand arrive with a far patchier profile. A form line of WLWWLDLL tells its own story — a team capable of impressive moments but prone to alarming collapses. Their away record in particular raises eyebrows, with four defeats in six road trips and twelve goals conceded on their travels this season. They have failed to score in two of those away outings entirely. The one silver lining is that Start have shown resilience at home, keeping two clean sheets at their own ground, but replicating that defensive solidity in Bodø — against this Glimt side — is a very different proposition.
Head-to-Head: A Familiar Story
The recent history between these clubs offers little comfort to Start’s travelling supporters. Of the last ten meetings, Bodo/Glimt have been dominant, most memorably thrashing Start 6-0 in 2020 and 5-0 earlier this very Eliteserien campaign in April. Even their most recent competitive encounter in May ended 4-1 to Glimt, with Start unable to contain the hosts’ attacking waves. Start’s only victories in this fixture stretch back to 2018 and 2017, which feels like a very distant era given how much Glimt have grown as a club since then.
Verdict
This friendly may lack league points, but it carries the weight of a rivalry that has been decidedly one-sided of late. Aspmyra Stadium should be rocking on Saturday afternoon, and Glimt’s blistering pre-season form suggests the home crowd will have plenty to cheer about. Start will need something close to a perfect performance to avoid another heavy defeat — and right now, nothing in their recent showings suggests they have found that level of consistency. Expect goals, expect Glimt to dominate, and expect the Arctic fortress to remind Norwegian football exactly why Bodø remains the place everyone fears to visit.
