2018 Úrvalsdeild
# 2018 Úrvalsdeild

The 2018 Úrvalsdeild karla, also known as Pepsi-deild karla for sponsorship reasons, was the 107th season of top-flight Icelandic football. Twelve teams contested the league, including the defending champions Valur, who won their 21st league title in 2017.

The season began on 27 April 2018 and concluded on 29 September 2018.

## Teams

The 2018 Úrvalsdeild was contested by twelve teams, ten of which played in the division the previous year and two teams promoted from 1. deild karla. The bottom two teams from the previous season, Víkingur Ó. and ÍA, were relegated to the 2018 1. deild karla and were replaced by Fylkir and Keflavík, champions and runners-up of the 2017 1. deild karla respectively.

### Club information

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - |
| Breiðablik | Kópavogur | Kópavogsvöllur | 5,501 |
| FH | Hafnarfjörður | Kaplakriki | 6,738 |
| Fjölnir | Reykjavík (Grafarvogur) | Extra völlurinn | 2,000 |
| Fylkir | Reykjavík (Árbær) | Floridana völlurinn | 5,000 |
| Grindavík | Grindavík | Grindavíkurvöllur | 1,750 |
| ÍBV | Vestmannaeyjar | Hásteinsvöllur | 3,034 |
| KA | Akureyri | Akureyrarvöllur | 1,770 |
| Keflavík | Reykjanesbær (Keflavík) | Keflavíkurvöllur | 5,200 |
| KR | Reykjavík (Vesturbær) | Alvogenvöllurinn | 3,333 |
| Stjarnan | Garðabær | Samsung völlurinn | 2,300 |
| Valur | Reykjavík (Hlíðar/Miðborg) | Valsvöllur | 2,465 |
| Víkingur R. | Reykjavík (Fossvogur) | Víkingsvöllur | 1,613 |

Source:

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Breiðablik | Ágúst Gylfason | Gunnleifur Gunnleifsson | Jako | Vörður |
| FH | Ólafur Kristjánsson | Davíð Þór Viðarsson | Adidas | Actavis |
| Fjölnir | Ólafur Páll Snorrason | Þórður Ingason | Hummel | Bónus |
| Grindavík | Páll Kristjánsson | Gunnar Þorsteinsson | Stanno | LÝSI |
| Fylkir | Helgi Sigurðsson | Ásgeir Börkur Ásgeirsson | Jako | Wurth |
| ÍBV | Kristján Guðmundsson | Sindri Snær Magnússon | Hummel | Bónus |
| KA | Srdjan Tufegdzic | Guðmann Þórisson | Diadora | N1 |
| Keflavík | Guðlaugur Baldursson | Marc McAusland | Nike | Landsbankinn |
| KR | Rúnar Kristinsson | Pálmi Rafn Pálmason | Nike | Alvogen |
| Stjarnan | Rúnar Páll Sigmundsson | Baldur Sigurðsson | Uhlsport | Orkan |
| Valur | Ólafur Jóhannesson | Haukur Páll Sigurðsson | Macron | Munck |
| Víkingur R. | Logi Ólafsson | Sölvi Ottesen | Macron | TVG-Zimsen |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Breiðablik | Miloš Milojević | Resigned | 3 October 2017 | Pre-season | Ágúst Gylfason | 6 October 2017 |
| Fjölnir | Ágúst Gylfason | Resigned | 6 October 2017 | Pre-season | Ólafur Páll Snorrason | 11 October 2017 |
| FH | Heimir Guðjónsson | Sacked | 6 October 2017 | Pre-season | Ólafur Kristjánsson | 14 October 2017 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Valur (C) | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 50 | 24 | +26 | 46 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Breiðablik | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 39 | 17 | +22 | 44 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Stjarnan | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 45 | 26 | +19 | 40 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | KR | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 36 | 25 | +11 | 37 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | FH | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 37 | |
| 6 | ÍBV | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 29 | 31 | −2 | 29 | |
| 7 | KA | 22 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 36 | 34 | +2 | 28 | |
| 8 | Fylkir | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 26 | |
| 9 | Víkingur R. | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 29 | 38 | −9 | 25 | |
| 10 | Grindavík | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 26 | 37 | −11 | 25 | |
| 11 | Fjölnir (R) | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 22 | 44 | −22 | 19 | Relegation to 1. deild karla |
| 12 | Keflavík (R) | 22 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 11 | 49 | −38 | 4 | Relegation to 1. deild karla |

* ↑ Since the winners of 2018 Icelandic Cup, Stjarnan, qualified for European competition based on their league position, the spot awarded to the Cup winner (Europa League first qualifying round) was passed to the next best-placed team (the fourth-placed team).

### Positions by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Valur | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Breiðablik | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Stjarnan | 5 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| KR | 9 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| FH | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| ÍBV | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| KA | 5 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Fylkir | 10 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 |
| Víkingur R. | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Grindavík | 10 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
| Fjölnir | 5 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Keflavík | 5 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |

* Leader
* 2019–20 UEFA Europa League first qualifying round
* Relegation to 1. deild karla

## Results

Each team will play home and away once against every other team for a total of 22 games each.

| Home \ Away | BRE | FH | FJÖ | FYL | GRI | ÍBV | KA | KEF | KR | STJ | VAL | VIK |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Breiðablik | — | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 |
| FH | 1–3 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Fjölnir | 0–2 | 2–3 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–2 |
| Fylkir | 0–3 | 1–1 | 7–0 | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–5 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 |
| Grindavík | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 2–5 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| ÍBV | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| KA | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 4–1 |
| Keflavík | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | — | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–4 |
| KR | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Stjarnan | 2–1 | 0–1 | 6–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | — | 1–1 | 3–3 |
| Valur | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | — | 4–1 |
| Víkingur R. | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–4 | 0–0 | — |

## Top goalscorers

    As of matches played on 29 September 2018

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Patrick Pedersen | Valur | 17 |
| 2 | Hilmar Árni Halldórsson | Stjarnan | 16 |
| 3 | Pálmi Rafn Pálmason | KR | 11 |
| 4 | Ásgeir Sigurgeirsson | KA | 10 |
| 4 | Thomas Mikkelsen | Breiðablik | 10 |
| 6 | Steven Lennon | FH | 9 |
| 7 | Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson | ÍBV | 8 |
| 8 | Kennie Chopart | KR | 7 |
| 8 | Gísli Eyjólfsson | Breiðablik | 7 |
| 8 | Guðmundur Steinn Hafsteinsson | Stjarnan | 7 |
| 8 | Brandur Olsen | FH | 7 |
| 12 | Geoffrey Castillion | Vikingur | 6 |
| 12 | Nikolaj Hansen | Vikingur | 6 |
| 12 | Kristinn Freyr Sigurðsson | Valur | 6 |
| 15 | Elfar Árni Aðalsteinsson | KA | 5 |
