NORWAY will be looking to breathe some much-needed life into their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign when they take on Cyprus on Tuesday night.
The Lions’ qualification hopes are already hanging by the thinnest of threads following a dramatic 2-1 loss at home to Scotland on Saturday, on an evening where our man Kevin Mac struck gold.
That damaging defeat means Ståle Solbakken’s side are sitting second-bottom of the section with just a solitary point to their name after three rounds of fixtures.
As such, Norway have no room for error if they are to set the wheels in motion for an unlikely top-two finish when they welcome Cyprus on Tuesday.
Temuri Ketsbaia’s team suffered late heartbreak of their own in their home game against Georgia on Saturday, as a late goal from Zuriko Davitashvili secured all three points for the visitors.
As a result, the Cypriots are propping up the pool and are without a point ahead of their trip to Oslo this midweek.
Outright Betting
Norway, who have triumphed in each of their 11 previous meetings with Cyprus, are heavy 2/15 (UniBet) favourites to extend that sequence on Tuesday night.
Cyprus have won just one of their last 17 competitive matches and the bookmakers’ odds suggest that wretched run will continue, with an away win trading at 28/1 (BetVictor) while the draw is also deemed improbable at 15/2 (PaddyPower).
Betting Angles
Neither team makes great appeal in the 1X2 here so I'll instead opt for Bet Builder by throwing together Erling Haaland to Score and Under Five Match Goals at 20/23 (Bet 365).
Fresh off the back of a record-breaking debut season at Manchester City, Haaland marked his return to the international stage with a goal against Scotland on Saturday.
That means the prolific Norwegian striker has scored a staggering 22 goals across his 24 appearances for the national team, and he will be backing himself to add to that tally against Group A basement boys Cyprus.
Temuri Ketsbaia’s crop have conceded five goals across their two group games thus far, not to mention they have managed to keep just one clean sheet in their last nine attempts.
With that in mind, I'll side with the aforementioned Haaland to grab a goal here, but to round off the selection, I'll also go with Under Five Match Goals.
Each of the pair's combined five group games thus far have featured four goals or fewer and I fancy that trend to continue given that these are two sides low on confidence and can ill-afford any further slip ups.
It's also worth pointing out that the above-mentioned Bet Builder would have paid out in two of Haaland's last three appearances for his country, and that only adds to the appeal of supporting the same combination here at 20/23 (Bet 365).
After picking up a card in his side's 2-1 loss at Cyprus on Saturday, I'll also have a small play on Alex Gogic to go into the book again here at 13/5 with PaddyPower.
The St Mirren utility man is no stranger to referees' notebooks and he looks a fair bet to have his name taken here given that he could he handed the thankless task of keeping tabs on the aforementioned Erling Haaland.
This Euro 2024 match between Norway and Cyprus will be played on Jun 20, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Norway vs Cyprus prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
