Finland welcome Bosnia & Herzegovina to the Helsinki Olympic Stadium on Wednesday as both countries kick off their World Cup qualifying campaigns.
With France, Kazakhstan and Ukraine also in Group D, both Finland and Bosnia could find it tricky to qualify for the tournament in Qatar.
Debytanttien syksy! Forssin, Valakarin ja Niskasen upea sisääntulo Huuhkajiin! 🎉 | Äänestä Nations League -syksyn 𝐈𝐊𝐈𝐌𝐔𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐒! ✨ | ➡ https://t.co/C7Lt8y7uqCVoit voittaa kotipelipaidan koko joukkueen nimmareilla!#Huuhkajat #MeOlemmeSuomi pic.twitter.com/EEzjW95xz8— Huuhkajat (@Huuhkajat) March 22, 2021
Debytanttien syksy! Forssin, Valakarin ja Niskasen upea sisääntulo Huuhkajiin! 🎉 | Äänestä Nations League -syksyn 𝐈𝐊𝐈𝐌𝐔𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐒! ✨ | ➡ https://t.co/C7Lt8y7uqCVoit voittaa kotipelipaidan koko joukkueen nimmareilla!#Huuhkajat #MeOlemmeSuomi pic.twitter.com/EEzjW95xz8
Having said that, Finland may be quietly confident of upsetting the odds after qualifying for their first major tournament.
In fact, Finland finished five points ahead of Bosnia as they booked their place at the European Championship.
Since the Euro qualifying campaign, Finland have continued their strong run with a number of positive results.
Finland have won five of their previous seven games, including a standout 2-0 victory over France in November.
Teemu Pukki has scored in each of Finland last two games, meaning the Norwich City striker has netted 11 goals in his previous 15 international appearances.
Meanwhile, Bosnia missed out on European Championship qualification after finishing a whopping 17 points behind Italy in Group J.
Worryingly for Bosnia, they have failed to win any of their last eight matches in all competitions, recording six losses and two draws.
Worse still, Bosnia & Herzegovina have lost each of their previous four outings by conceding at least over 1.5 goals on every occasion.
Recent defeats to Poland, Iran, Holland and Italy mean that Bosnia head into Wednesday’s clash on a poor run of form.
It is also worth pointing out that Bosnia have failed to score in four of their last five games, so it could be difficult for them to damage Finland.
Head-to-head: Bosnia have beaten Finland twice over the years, with Finland claiming one win in this fixture.
The nations met twice in 2019 during Euro qualifying. Finland claimed a 2-0 home win, before Bosnia sealed a 4-1 victory on home soil.
Team news: It goes without saying that Finland will be looking to Teemu Pukki to maintain his impressive recent goalscoring form on Wednesday.
As well as his eye-catching record for Finland, the striker has bagged 22 goals in 34 Championship games for Norwich this term.
Thankfully for Bosnia, Edin Dzeko has overcome a recent injury and looks set to lead the line for the visitors.
When Finland and Bosnia met in Euro qualifying back in in 2019, the two games produced a combined total seven goals.
With that in mind, Forbet predicts that Finland and Bosnia will produce another high-scoring game on Wednesday. As for the result, a draw looks like the most probable outcome.