The league leading and defending champion Stockholm Mean Machines (3-0) travel to Norway Saturday, May 4 to take on the defending Norwegian champions, the Oslo Vikings (0-3) as the Swedish Superserien enters its fifth weekend of action.
This is the first ever meeting between these two teams. Oslo is playing in the Superserien this year after dominating in Norway over the past several seasons.
Oslo suffered a 56-37 loss to the Tyresö Royal Crowns in Oslo in their season opener and then were beaten by the Örebro Black Knights 31-19 in Örebro. Last week, they suffered a 41-8 defeat at the hands of the Carlstad Crusaders.
The Mean Machines have opened their 2024 season in the Swedish Superserien with three straight wins after beating the Örebro Black Knights 39-18, the Limhamn Griffins 44-14 and the Kristianstad Predators 41-18 . Two weeks ago, Stockholm downed the visiting British champions, the Manchester Titans, 44-14 in Central European Football League play.
Watch live PPV. Stockholm Mean Machines @ Oslo Vikings, May 4, 15:00 CET (3 pm, 9 am EDT)
Although. the Vikings are led by former NCAA quarterback CJ Fowler, who has completed 26 of 58 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns, last week head coach Derek Mann returned to action in his former role as quarterback throwing for 153 yards and a touchdown in a losing cause against Carlstad. It is not known whether Fowler or Mann will be behind center today. Niklas Fengler has caught eight passes for 124 yards to lead the team while Matthew Snawder has six receptions for 88 yards and two scores. Last week however, Harald Daniel Lomax Bjerke led the team with five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Rune Nilsen leads the Vikings in rushing yards with 28 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown. Versatile William Sewell leads the team in tackles with 15 from his defensive end position while linebacker Ryan Hatch had four tackles last week against Carlstad.
The Vikings defense will be tested again today. They have given up 1,240 yards of offense in three games and are facing a Stockholm team that has racked up 1,101 yards in their three matchups.
Stockholm quarterback Mateo Renteria leads a potent offense. He has completed 48 of 65 passes for 631 yards and 10 touchdowns in the three games against only one interception. His favorite target is Matt Retzlaff who has caught eight of those passes for 130 yards and two scores while running back Kasper Wedberg has nine for 130 yards as well. The ground game is impressive led by Wedberg who has rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Oliwer Stedt has rushed for 82 yards and two touchdowns while David Ottander has 72 yards on 15 carries scoring two touchdowns as well.
On paper, this should be a comfortable win for the Mean Machines but Oslo will be playing at home and have a couple of their key players back in the lineup.