Finland and Bosnia-Herzegovina are looking to snap a recent run of poor results as they clash in a Group B3 fixture in the UEFA Nations League.
After years on the sidelines of international football, Finland finally competed in their first major competition at Euro 2020. However, they failed to build on that feat and missed out on the FIFA World Cup in Qatara after finishing third behind France and Ukraine in Group D of the qualifiers.
One positive for Finland is that a second-place finish in Group B4 of the previous UNL means they retained their position in the second tier of the competition. However, they have not had the best build-up to this year’s competition and head to Saturday’s opener winless in their last three matches.
Finland’s last competitive outing was a 2-0 home defeat to France in their final World Cup qualifying fixture back in November. Markku Kanerva’s men followed that up with back-to-back friendlies in March, playing out a 1-1 draw with Iceland before suffering a 2-0 defeat to Slovakia.
Bosnia-Herzegovina played in the elite league in the previous edition of the UNL but proved to be no match for the other teams in the group. They were relegated to the second tier after finishing bottom of the standings following a run of six matches without a win.
Like Finland, Bosnia-Herzegovina have also struggled to find their best form lately, claiming just one win from their last five matches across all competitions.
Bosnia have also found things difficult on their travels with just one win from their last five away matches. However, with 1-1 draws in France and Ukraine among their results in that run, manager Ivaylo Petev will be targeting a positive result in Finland.
How the bookies view it
There is little to separate both teams among the bookies with a win for Finland priced at 17/10 by bet365 while a Bosnia victory is valued at odds of 35/19 with SBK. A draw is set at odds of 11/5 by Unibet.
Head to head
There have been five previous matches between Finland and Bosnia-Herzegovina with both teams claiming two wins each. The only draw in that run was a 2-2 scoreline at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium during the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Players to watch
Teemu Pukki remains the biggest attacking threat for Finland and has found the net four times in his last six international appearances. The striker also scored both goals in the 2-2 draw last time out and is priced at 11/8 by bet365 to get on the score sheet on Saturday.
As always, all-time leading scorer Edin Dzeko is expected to lead the line for Bosnia-Herzegovina and will be the one to watch on Saturday. The striker got the only goal in the win over Luxembourg last time out and is priced at 11/8 by bet365 to find the net.
Anything else catch the eye?
Finland and Bosnia know their way to goal and have produced over 3.5 goals in their last three meetings. A repeat is priced at 17/5 by BetVictor while over 2.5 goals is valued at 6/5 by bet365 with SBK offering odds of 11/12 on both teams to score.
There have been more second half goals in the last three meetings between Finland and Bosnia and Saturday’s clash could be tipped to follow a similar pattern at 11/10 with Paddy Power.
This UEFA Nations League match between Finland and Bosnia-Herzegovina will be played on Jun 4, 2022 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Finland vs Bosnia-Herzegovina prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
