Ten-time world champion Johaug, who missed last year's Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang because of a doping ban, was the victor in last week's season-opener in Ruka. 

She is now set to compete in front of a home crowd at the Birkebeineren Ski Stadium, built for the Winter Olympic Games in 1994. 

The women's competition will start with a 15-kilometre skiathlon, an event which is returning to the Cross-Country World Cup after a season's absence.

Johaug has the chance of becoming the first ever athlete to claim 14 podium finishes in skiathlon World Cup events.

Fellow Norwegian Ingvild Flugstad Østberg could prevent this, however, having pipped Johaug to top the overall standings last season. 

The women's contest will then conclude with a team relay on Sunday (December 8), comprising four laps of 5km. 

In the men's competition, defending overall champion and three-times Olympic gold medallist Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is also in good form, having triumphed in Ruka as well.

He was the victor in the last World Cup skiathlon event in Lillehammer in December 2017. 

Compatriot Martin Johnsrud Sundby, the skiathlon silver medallist at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, could challenge Klæbo for the title in tomorrow's 30km event. 

The men's contest is also set to conclude with a team relay on Sunday, this time consisting of four laps of 7.5km.