Norway-Cyprus is a match on day four of Euro 2024 qualifying Group A and is played on Tuesday at 20:45: predictions.
Norway with their backs against the wall. Yes, even though there are still five matches to play. Erling Haaland’s selection, after missing out on qualification for the World Cup, is in danger of watching the European Championships from home, despite having the best striker around, who has just lifted the Champions League.
In the first three days, the Scandinavian selection has won just one point, while Scotland, a direct competitor for second place in a group that is likely to be dominated by Spain, already has nine. Also far away is Georgia, with whom Stale Solbakken’s men drew 1-1 last March: against Kvaratskhelia and his teammates, another not inconsiderable danger, Norway must make up three points. The defeat, the second in the last three matches, against the Scots in Oslo, which overturned everything in the last minutes (1-2), thus cancelling out the penalty scored by Haaland at the start of the second half, was a painful one. A knockout that weighs heavily. And that forces the Scandinavians not to commit any more missteps in the next commitments between now and November. They were accused of a defensive performance that did not seem to be up to the standard of the other departments: it is not surprising that in the last eight matches Norway have never managed to keep their goal unbroken.
Cyprus still scoreless
The worst performer in Group A is Cyprus. The selection led by the Georgian Temur Ketsbaia has not scored a single point in two days, losing to both Scotland (3-0) and Georgia (1-2), who came out on top with just a few minutes to go on Saturday, bringing home three heavy points
Ketsbaia
Cyprus also have problems in the non-possession phase, having conceded less than two goals in their last six matches. The most recent precedents against Norway date back to 2018: in the Nations League, the Scandinavians got the better of both the first leg and the return leg, scoring four goals and keeping their goal unbeaten. The previous four matches were also won by the Norwegians.
The Prediction
The match against Cyprus should bring a smile back to the faces of the Norwegian fans: after all, Solbakken’s men have no other choice if they want to continue their hopes of qualification. A Norwegian victory is likely in a match with a total of more than two goals. It cannot be ruled out that the Cypriots will also manage to score at least one goal.
Norway v Cyprus likely line-up
- NORWAY (4-3-3): Nyland; Ryerson, Ostigard, Strandberg, Meling; Odegaard, Berg, Aursnes; Sorloth, Haaland, Elyounoussi.
- CIPRO (3-4-2-1): Dimitriou; Gogic, Ioannou, Laifis; Antoniou, Charalampous, Kousoulos, Correia; Kastanos, Loizou; Pittas.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
