THERE will be a carnival atmosphere at Hampden as Scotland bring the curtain down on a memorable Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a clash against Norway.
When the draw was made this had the makings of an epic final game, with Steve Clarke's side and the Norwegians set to scrap it out in a do-or-die battle for second place behind favourites Spain.
But the Scots pretty much planted one foot in the finals when they followed up an epic 2-0 Hampden victory over the Spanish by winning 2-1 in Oslo last summer thanks to a late smash-and-grab raid.
Plenty of pessimistic punters still feared Scotland would find a way to mess things up but Clarke's squad is made of sterner stuff and they wrapped up qualification with two games to spare as Norway lost at home to Spain.
A run of three successive defeats to big guns England, Spain and France across qualifiers and friendlies took some of the wind out of Scottish sails and it looked like they would suffer another loss in Georgia on Thursday night.
But Lawrence Shankland came off the bench to salvage a 2-2 draw in stoppage time and bring up a bet for our man Mark. Clarke will be desperate to sign off with a win as he builds towards next summer's finals and this could be a good time to face Norway.
Stale Solbakken will be without skipper Martin Odegaard for their trip to Glasgow as the Arsenal playmaker is still out injured. The Norwegian boss has pledged to give a few fringe players a run-out and rookie Egil Selvik will be in goal with Sevilla's Orjan Nyland also missing out.
Star striker Erling Haaland is also a doubt with an ankle knock and if he misses out then it will be an even taller order for the Norwegians to win.
How the bookies view it
Scotland are favourites with home advantage but are still a decent price at 23/20 with 888Sport and that looks worth a punt with Norway set to make changes. Solbakken's side are a best 11/4 with Bet365 while the draw pays 23/10 at BoyleSports.
Head to head
That huge victory in Oslo last summer just edged Scotland in front of Norway in the head to head. The Scots have now won three of the seven games, with Norway coming out on top twice. It was a 0-0 draw when the Norwegians last came to Hampden in the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, a game best remembered for Chris Iwelumo's incredible miss right in front of goal.
Players to watch
It's hard to look past Scott McTominay for a Scotland goal after his midweek strike in Tiblisi took his tally to seven in this campaign. Only a terrible VAR call stopped the midfielder from claiming another goal in Spain and he's a little overpriced at 4/1 with Unibet for anytime scorer.
A man of Haaland's pedigree should never be overlooked for a goal when the price is as big as the 17/10 on offer at Paddy Power here. But with the Manchester City superstar an injury doubt it could be wiser backing Copenhagen's former Celtic winger Mohamed Elyounoussi at 7/1 with Unibet.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Scotland missing some key defenders and the Norwegians set to make a few changes, we should see goals at both ends for this one. BTTS is a best 11/12 at VBet while over 2.5 goals is more appealing at 11/10 with William Hill.
Unibet have some interesting stats bets and there seems to be a bit of value on Scottish players having a shot on target. McTominay is 5/4 to test the keeper and striker Lyndon Dykes looks well worth a punt at 19/20, providing he starts ahead of midweek super sub Shankland.
This Euro 2024 match between Scotland and Norway will be played on Nov 19, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Scotland vs Norway prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
