On Thursday night, Norway and Cyprus kick-off their campaigns in the UEFA Nations League, as the pair look to start their League C Group C campaigns off with a victory.
Norway heads into this clash on the back of four straight international wins, including a 3-2 defeat of Nordic rivals Iceland. Last time out the Scandinavians recorded a 1-0 win over Panama in a friendly match.
The home sides form stretching a little further back suggests that they are on the up, as the Scandinavian nation has won six of their last eight games.
Norway are unbeaten in seven international games home soil too, recording five wins and two draws in the process. A key to those recent good home results has been solid defensive displays, as the Scandinavian team has conceded just one goal in their last four home games, keeping three clean sheets in the process.
Norway have faced Cyprus on nine occasions and triumphed in all nine games. The home side has also scored two or more goals in all their previous meetings with the visitors.
The omens are not great for an away win, as the visitors have lost six of their last seven international games. They have also failed to score in four out of their last five international outings.
Unsurprisingly considering their recent history, Cyprus’ recent away record is poor, as the visitors have lost ten of their last 11 games on their travels. Once again, a lack of goals has been the visitor’s main problem in away games, as they have failed to score in eight of those aforementioned 11 games.
The fact that they have conceded at least two goals in seven of their last ten away games in the international game has not helped their cause either.
Forebet predicts that Norway will record a comfortable win a low scoring encounter to continue their recent good record against the visitors.