World Cup Qualifiers: Netherlands vs. Norway Preview, Odds, Prediction

The winner of the match between the Netherlands and Norway will take everything from the table. If Oranje wins, they are heading for Qatar directly, on the other side, if the Norwegian team triumphs, they are for sure in the playoffs and might even win finish first if Turkey doesn’t defeat Montenegro on the road. This is one of the most interesting matchups of the entire round, particularly because this group saw several big-time surprises.

Preview

Netherlands (-250) was a few minutes away from a win in Montenegro, which would secure their direct place in Qatar. The Oranje was up 0-2 in Podgorica until the very end, once they allowed two goals in the span of a few minutes that saw them staying atop of Group G, but within Turkey’s and Norway’s reach.

This is undoubtedly a massive blow for the Dutch side, but they have no other option but to erase the nasty memory and proceed to the game against Norway this Tuesday. The Netherlands is a big favorite, and everyone expects to see them winning this even without any particular trouble.

How wouldn’t this team be a favorite at home when they have six straight wins on their own soil, in which they didn’t keep clean sheets only on two occasions while scoring three or more goals in all but one of those games. Oranje is ruthless with the crowd giving them pace and momentum and almost always puts the fantastic display in those situations.

Norway (+600) did the unthinkable. They’ve managed to miss one of the best chances in their history to reach the World Cup, playing 0-0 against Latvia at home. With these two points, the Norwegian team would be in first place in the standings, and the entire situation would be much better for the Scandinavians.

We are aware that Ståle Solbakken’s side is without Erling Haaland, but that simply can’t justify this slip. After beating Montenegro 2-0 three days before, the contest against the Latvian side should have been a formality. It turned out differently.

What boosts the Norwegians’ morale is that they have the best record on the road in Group G, winning three matches away from home, and posting one draw, with a 7-1 goal difference.

Latest News

There aren’t any new absences due to suspensions and injuries on either side.

Head to Head

The first event in the group standings between Norway and Netherlands ended 1-1. Haaland netted for the hosts, but after that, it was Klaassen who leveled the score.

Prediction

We have no doubts about high efficiency here, and also in the Netherlands’ victory. Oranje is superb at home, and we’ve seen that on multiple occasions in the past few months. In our opinion, anything but their confident win would be a massive sensation, so we propose betting on the Netherlands to cover a -1.5 spread. The odds on that are very high, +115, which should be utilized. Without Haaland, Norway is at least 30% weaker, therefore, the risk is much lower than it seems.

Pick Netherlands -1.5 +105