Norway vs Netherlands

Norway and the Netherlands are set to trade tackles in an exciting World Cup Qualifying meeting at the Ullevål Stadion.

Norway have alternated a victory (2) and a defeat (1) across their opening three World Cup Qualifying fixtures, with each game won/lost seeing the victor keep a clean sheet. There’s also been plenty of first-half action in Norway’s inaugural three World Cup qualifiers, with each featuring at least one goal before half-time while two producing precisely two first-half strikes. With just a single point separating four sides in this highly competitive Group G, the ‘Løvene’ will be keen to improve upon their negative overall H2H record against the Netherlands (W5, D6, L9) in their first meeting since June 2009. Worryingly, though, the hosts last defeated a nation inside FIFA’s top 20 in September 2015, overcoming Croatia that time. Curiously, none of Norway’s last five home games have ended level (W3, L2), including friendlies.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands responded to a 4-2 victory away to Turkey on Matchday 1 with back-to-back triumphs over minnows Latvia and Gibraltar by an aggregate score of 9-0. Unlike Norway, most of Netherlands’ World Cup Qualifying action usually takes place in the second half, as witnessed by the fact that 11 of their 15 goals scored/conceded in the ongoing campaign have come beyond half-time. Newly-appointed boss Louis van Gaal will be aiming to invoke some pleasant memories from his last stint with the Dutch national team that saw his side go unbeaten in all ten World Cup qualifiers (W9, D1), notably scoring 2+ goals on each occasion. Except for a shocking 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic in the Euro 2020 last-16, van Gaal can draw upon the Netherlands’ otherwise impressive displays at the recently finished continental tournament (W3 – GF:8, GA:2).