Kazakhstan and Norway face off in the Nations League Group B3 curtain-raiser at the Ortalyq Stadion on Friday afternoon.
The two nations have been housed in this particular section alongside both Austria and Slovenia.
Now under the guidance of Stanislav Cherchesov, Kazakhstan find themselves in Group B following their promotion from Group C.
On top of this, Kazakhstan performed well during Euro 2024 qualifying, accumulating 18 points from their 10 games when placing fourth in Group H.
As for Norway, they remain in section B of the Nations League following their second placed finish in the last edition of the competition.
Stale Solbakken’s side finished third behind both Spain and Scotland in their Euro 2024 qualifying group, meaning their near quarter of a century wait to appear at a major tournament goes on.
How the bookies view it: Light work for the Lions
Norway go into their opening Nations League match of the campaign as firm 2/5 favourites with William Hill.
Kazakhstan kick off their campaign as big outsiders at 6/1 (William Hill) while a point apiece in Pavlodar has been priced up at 7/2 (UniBet).
Head to head: History book blank
Friday afternoon’s fixture will represent the first ever meeting between the pair on the international circuit. Kazakhstan did come up against Nordic opposition during Euro 2024 qualifying when facing off with Finland home and away, winning one of those games and losing the other.
Players to watch: Haaland hungry for more goals
Fresh off the back of firing in seven goals across the opening three Premier League games of the season, Erling Haalnd is an eye-catching 5/6 (Betfred) to strike on Friday afternoon. The Norwegian goal machine has netted a staggering 31 goals in 33 appearances for his country.
Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov struck four times across his nine outings for Kazakhstan during Euro 2024 qualification. The Besiktas man is 11/2 with Ladbrokes to make the net bulge on matchday one.
Predicted line-ups
New Kazakhstan boss Stanislav Cherchesov has called up some previously uncapped players, some of whom could be given a chance to impress in this Group B3 opener.
Norway will be without winger Oscar Bobb who is set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering leg fracture during training with club side Man City.
Kazakhstan: Shatsky; Marochkin, Maliy, Bystrov; Zuyev, Beysebekov, Kuat, Vorogovsky; Zaynutdinov; Aymbetov, Chesnokov
Norway: Nyland; Ryerson, Gundersen, Ostigard, Ajer; Thorstvedt, Berge; Botheim, Odegaard, Nusa; Haaland
Anything else catch the eye?
Sticking with the aforementioned Erling Haaland, I'm going to chance a pair of longshots and have a nibble on both the 4/1 and 19/1 on offer with Betfred for the Scandinavian sharpshooter to hit either a brace or a hat-trick.
Haaland has notched up two or more goals in three of his last nine appearances for Norway – including a hat-trick against Kosovo in June – and he's on penalties which is always an added incentive when delving into a goalscorer market.
Kazakhstan have kept just one clean sheet across their last nine matches, leaking a combined total of 19 goals in the process, so there is plenty of scope for Haaland to make hay.
This UEFA Nations League match between Kazakhstan and Norway will be played on Sep 6, 2024 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Kazakhstan vs Norway prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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