Northern Ireland v Norway: Guinness drinkers to knock Lagerbäck

Northern Ireland v Norway
Sunday March 26, 18:45 BST
Live on Sky Sports 2

Northern Ireland

If qualifying for Euro 2016 and making it through to the last 16 was quite the achievement for Northern Ireland, then getting to Russia 2018 will surely top it.

Michael O'Neill's side have taken seven points from their opening four Group C matches to sit second behind Germany. It's pretty obvious that they won't catch the reigning World Champions, but they have a great chance of finishing second and making the Play-offs.

Their results at Windsor Park will surely hold the key and they will be keen to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat here to Croatia in November - albeit that it was just a friendly.

In World Cup qualifying it's two wins from two for Northern Ireland - both by four goals to nil - and while this is a sterner test, they will fancy their chances of taking all three points.

Kyle Lafferty may be languishing in the Norwich reserves but he's shown time and time again that he can rise to the occasion for his country and he's already got three goals in this qualifying campaign.

Norway

The Norwegians are second from bottom having lost three of their four matches to date. Their only victory came at home to minnows, San Marino, and they even conceded a goal to the team who very rarely find the net.

Their other three games were a 3-0 defeat to Germany, a 1-0 loss at Azerbaijan and a 2-1 reverse in the Czech Republic. It's also worth noting that they didn't qualify for the Euros - losing to Hungary in the Play-offs.

Lars Lagerbäck wasn't in charge for any of that as he was only appointed in February of this year, but it will surely take him some time to turn around a nation in decline. Just a scan of the list of players in the squad should ring alarm bells as gone are the days of them having plenty of household names.

Match Odds 

Northern Ireland 2.50 Norway 3.50 The Draw 3.15

The hosts are the favourites but they aren't as short as I thought they would be. Their competitive results at Windsor Park are impressive and they have also added goals to their game, which was something which they sometimes struggled with.

The market is possibly factoring in new manager syndrome for the visitors but I don't think it has the same effect in international football and it could take a while for the Swede to get his philosophy across to the players.

The atmosphere is sure to be electric in Belfast this evening and I really can't see anything other than a home win - especially as Norway have lost six of their last seven on their travels.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals 

Over 2.5 Goals 2.70 Under 2.5 Goals 1.54

I've previewed plenty of Northern Ireland games over the last 18 months and I'm always surprised to see how big over 2.5 goals is. I'm happy to back it again at around the 2.70mark as it would have landed in three of their last four fixtures and four of their last five on this ground.

I can definitely see the Irish netting at least twice, but I wouldn't rule out a Norway goal either as they did score in the Czech Republic and then twice in a friendly in Belgium back in June 2016.

Recommended Bets
Back Northern Ireland @ 2.50
Back Over 2.5 Goals @ 2.70