After impressing so far in this World Cup qualification (WCQ) campaign, Norway will look to make it five wins from five as Moldova make the long trip to Oslo.
Match News and Current Form
Norway beat Finland 1-0 in a closely-fought friendly on Thursday to extend their phenomenal recent winning run to seven matches since November. With four of those coming in WCQ action, the hosts sit at the top of Group I as they look to reach a first major tournament since Euro 2000. Their success to this point has been inspired by their stunning attacking output, netting a whopping 13 goals in those four matches, and they’ll look to rely on that again here as they target a seventh straight home victory for the first time since October 2018.
Moldova sit at the opposite end of the spectrum, suffering a fourth successive WCQ defeat to start this cycle when being thrashed 4-0 at home by Israel. A fourth failure to score across their last five matches highlights exactly where their problems lie, and it means a first-ever appearance at a major tournament is already essentially beyond them. Even salvaging some pride here appears tricky as Moldova have lost 29 of their prior 35 away WCQ fixtures (W2, D4), including each of their last nine in succession since March 2017.
Head-to-Head History
This will be the seventh time these nations have met, with Norway remaining unbeaten across the first six H2Hs (W5, D1), winning 5-0 in the reverse fixture of this WCQ cycle.
Hot Stats and Streaks
Norway have conceded just twice across their last five WCQ home games (W3, D2).
Norway have kept five clean sheets across their last six matches.
Moldova have lost their last five games, conceding 3.2 goals on average per game.
Moldova have scored just three goals across their last seven competitive away fixtures.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
Erling Haaland is on the joint-best scoring run of his international career, netting in each of Norway’s last seven matches (G9), five of which came on home turf. Virgiliu Postolachi has only netted once across his last seven games for Moldova, but it did come in a competitive win away from home.
Neither side appear to have picked up any fresh injuries from last week’s games.
For all the latest team news, please check the Flashscore match centre.
Betting Analysis
With Norway scoring for fun and Moldova leaky in defence, backing Norway to win by 3+ goals and keep a clean sheet could prove profitable.
Author: Nathan Evans