Norway will look to maintain their recent good form when they travel to the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium for a Group G clash in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Both nations possess good quality in attack and are likely to produce goals in this fixture.
Turkey were far from their best in their previous qualifying fixture as they suffered a 6-1 defeat to the Netherlands. They struggled to cope with the Dutch attack and conceded six goals before Cengiz Under struck a consolation in added time.
Although that was the first defeat in the qualifiers for Turkey, it is an extension of their recent poor form which began at Euro 2020, where they lost all three of their matches. They have claimed just one win in their last four fixtures across all competitions.
The good news for manager Stefan Kuntz is the Turks have maintained an unbeaten home record throughout the qualifiers, although their last two matches have ended in draws. They tend to struggle defensively and have conceded seven goals in their last three home matches in the qualifiers.
Norway were in rampant mood in their previous qualifying fixture and claimed a 5-1 victory over Gibraltar. Erling Haaland netted a hat-trick while Kristian Thorstvedt and Alexander Sorloth were also on target.
The Norwegians missed the Euros but travel to Turkey in good form having suffered just one defeat in their last six matches across all competitions. They are up to second in the group, level on 13 points with the Netherlands.
Stale Solbakken's will be without strikers Erling Haaland and Alexander Sorloth but the Norwegians still have enough quality in attack to trouble the Turks. However, their open style often leaves them exposed at the back as they have conceded in three of their last four matches.
How the bookies view it
Despite their recent struggles, Turkey are still considered favourites among the bookies with SBK offering 19/20 for a home win. A victory for Norway is valued 13/5 with betway while a draw is set at odds of 5/2 with SBK.
Head to head
Turkey have a 5-2 advantage with two draws from nine previous matches against Norway. The Turks claimed a 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture but were held to a 2-2 draw the last time they hosted the Norwegians during the 2008 European Championship qualifiers.
Players to watch
Captain Burak Yilmaz is set to lead the line for Turkey and could be backed to find the net at 3/2 with Skybet. Winger Cengiz Under has scored in two of his last three appearances and could also be worth a punt in the same market at 23/10 with betway.
In the absence of Erling Haaland, Norway will look to Kristian Thorstvedt to provide the spark in attack. The striker was on target in the win over Gibraltar and is priced at 7/2 with Skybet to score anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
Turkey and Norway have plenty of quality in attack but often struggle defensively and both teams could be backed to score at 5/6 with Sport Nation. Both teams saw over 4.5 goals in their previous fixtures and a similar outcome is priced at 13/2 with BetVictor while over 3.5 goals is valued at 9/4 with SBK.
Friday's clash is likely to be closely fought contest, so a halftime draw could also be considered at 6/5 with bet365.
This World Cup match between Turkey and Norway will be played on Oct 8, 2021 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Turkey vs Norway prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
