Preview: Norway vs. Finland - prediction, team news, lineups

The home team recorded a 2-1 win over Republic of Ireland in their last match on Thursday, while Finland will enter this weekend's contest off the back of a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia.

Match preview

Norway recorded an impressive victory over Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Thursday evening, with Ohi Omoijuanfo coming up with what proved to be the winner in the 85th minute of the contest.

Stale Solbakken's side will now be looking to overcome Finland in what will be their final match of their year, with their next game not scheduled to take place until March 25, facing Spain in their first qualifier for Euro 2024.

Norway have featured at the finals of three World Cups, with their last participation in the tournament coming back in 1998, when they managed to reach the round of 16.

The national team will not be present at the 2022 competition, having finished third in Group G, three points behind second-placed Turkey, and as mentioned, their focus will now be on Euro 2024.

Norway have dominated their meetings with Finland throughout history, recording 39 victories and suffering just nine defeats, while the remaining 14 games between the two nations have finished all square.

Finland, meanwhile, were present at Euro 2020, which proved to be the first time that they had qualified for the finals of a major international tournament.

The Eagle-owls managed to overcome Denmark in their first match of the competition but were beaten by Russia and Belgium in their next two fixtures to finish third in Group B.

Finland will not feature at the 2022 World Cup, having finished third in their qualification section, just one point behind second-placed Ukraine, with France winning the group relatively comfortably.

Markku Kanerva's side will begin their Euro 2024 qualification campaign against Denmark on March 23, and they will also take on Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino and Slovenia in the section.

Finland will enter this match off the back of a 1-1 draw with North Macedonia on Thursday, and they are unbeaten in their last three games, including a 2-0 success over Montenegro in the UEFA Nations League.

Norway International Friendlies form:

W

W

W

Norway form (all competitions):

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D

W

L

L

W

Finland International Friendlies form:

D

W

D

Finland form (all competitions):

W

L

L

D

W

D

Team News

Erling Braut Haaland was not involved in Norway's clash with Republic of Ireland on Thursday, with the national team being careful with the Manchester City forward, who has been nursing a foot injury in recent weeks.

Norway boss Solbakken is hopeful that the Premier League's leading goalscorer can play a part in this match, although it is unlikely that he will be in the starting XI.

The team is expected to be similar to the one that took to the field for the first whistle in Dublin, with Martin Odegaard, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Jorgen Strand Larsen all set to start.

As for Finland, Lukas Hradecky is expected to captain the visitors from between the sticks, with the 32-year-old set to win his 81st cap for the national side.

Venezia forward Joel Pohjanpalo is the leading goalscorer in the squad with 13, and he is expected to be joined in the final third of the field by Middlesbrough's Marcus Forss.

Robin Lod is the most experienced midfielder in the squad in terms of caps, and he is likely to be joined in that area of the field by the likes of Robert Taylor and Lucas Lingman.

Norway possible starting lineup:

Nyland; Pedersen, Strandberg, Ostigard, Bjorkan; Solbakken, Odegaard, Berg, Thorsby, Elyounoussi; Larsen

Finland possible starting lineup:

Hradecky; L Vaisanen, Ivanov, S Vaisanen, Alho; Soiri, Lod, Taylor, Lingman; Forss, Pohjanpalo

We say: Norway 2-1 Finland

Norway will enter this match off the back of a morale-boosting victory over Republic of Ireland, and we are tipping them to secure another win here. Finland are certainly a team to be taken seriously, but we believe that the home side will have enough quality to secure the bragging rights.

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