Among three billion viewers worldwide across 188 countries on 400 channels, no Premier League game has been more eagerly awaited in Scandinavia than the Norse of the Year show.
When Martin Odegaard leads out Arsenal, and Manchester City fans wait to discover if 31-goal Erling Haaland is fit for the title shoot-out at the Emirates, in Norway their duel will be celebrated as completion of a nation's football makeover.
When the Norwegian national team hoisted long balls towards tall strikers under former Wimbledon manager Egil Olsen, in some quarters they were branded heretics for their direct style. Now Odegaard and Haaland are rivals for Footballer of the Year in England. One man's toasted sandwich is another man's smorgasbord, but the friends on Norway's national team group chat will be arch-rivals for 90 minutes.
