Sindre Tjelmeland will take charge of Molde for the first time on Saturday when the club welcomes Sandefjord to the Aker Stadion, replacing the interim stewardship of Martin Falk after Monday’s 2-1 defeat to Sarpsborg.
The match is why fans are searching for molde vs sandefjord now: Molde travel into Saturday sitting fifth in the Eliteserien, eight points off the top, following their fourth defeat of the season, and their most reliable attacking outlet this term — Emil Breivik — has six goals in 10 league games and shares the league lead with Viking’s Peter Christiansen.
Tjelmeland arrives fresh from finishing his commitments with Lech Poznan last weekend and will inherit a team in transition. Molde’s squad has eight new faces after a season that ended with the club 10th and only eight points clear of the relegation zone, and Fredrik Gulbrandsen is set to continue leading the line while Breivik supplies the goals from midfield. The club will be without defenders Fredrik Kristensen Dahl, Mads Kikkenborg and Jalal Abdullai through injury, which complicates how the new coach can rewire the side for an immediate response.
That rewire matters because Sandefjord have been a stubborn hurdle: they sit two points below Molde in seventh but have beaten Molde in each of the last four meetings, scoring three goals in three of those victories. Their own form is patchy — winless in two, a 3-1 defeat to Lillestrom and a 1-1 draw with Fredrikstad in which Nikolaj Moller scored and has now netted in his last three games — yet they are unlikely to overhaul a side that has handled Molde so well recently. Zinedin Smajlovic could return for Stian Kristiansen after serving a one-match suspension, giving Sandefjord a straightforward selection path.
The immediate evidence of why this game will define the early Tjelmeland era is mixed. Molde conceded twice to Sarpsborg — goals from Daniel Karlsbakk and Anders Hiim — with Eirik Hestad pulling one back too late to prevent a loss. That defeat under Falk underlined defensive fragility and left the club short of the consistency needed to climb the table. At the same time, Breivik’s scoring run provides a clear lever for any new system: get the ball to him in the right moments and Molde can manufacture chances even while the backline is reassembled.
The unresolved friction is simple. Molde are rebuilding and have changed coaches midstream; Sandefjord, despite a wobble, have been the better opponent in this fixture and carry a psychological edge from four straight wins. How Tjelmeland balances fresh ideas, the club’s new arrivals and the absence of three defenders against an opponent that has repeatedly found a way to score against Molde will determine whether the home advantage at Aker Stadion matters at all.
The single most consequential unanswered question entering Saturday is whether Tjelmeland can fashion a setup that converts Emil Breivik’s form into points and, in doing so, finally blunt Sandefjord’s streak. The answer will come when he sends out his first XI — and that initial selection will tell whether Molde’s rebuild has begun to change results or merely reset expectations.
