Northern Ireland v Norway: Haaland to fire visitors to victory

 Northern Ireland v Norway: Haaland to fire visitors to victory

Ian Baraclough avoided defeat in his first game in charge of Northern Ireland but Paul Robinson believes he won't be so lucky with Norway in town...

Northern Ireland v Norway
Monday 7 September, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports

Irish show grit in first game of new era

Northern Ireland somehow escaped with a draw from their trip to Romania, despite the fact that they went in at half-time 1-0 down and reduced to 10 men.

Ian Baraclough will have been delighted with the attitude that his players showed in the second half, and while a draw with Romania is nothing to write home about, under the circumstances it's definitely a good result for his first game in charge.

Goalkeeper, Bailey Peacock-Farrell, was the star, and the Burnley shot-stopper will need to be at his best to repel Norway's, Erling Braut Haaland's on Monday.

A shock defeat for Norway

The Norwegians only lost one of 10 matches in Euro 2020 qualifying, but they were beaten 2-1 at home by Austria on Friday - their first defeat since a 2-1 reverse at Spain in March 2019.

Lars Lagerbäck will be extremely disappointed with his team's performance, with the only highlight being Haaland's first senior goal for his country.

After this trip to Belfast they have a month before their European Championship Semi-final Play-off against Serbia, so they will want a positive result to sign off with here.

Follow the money

The Betfair layers don't appear to be too concerned with Norway's recent defeat, as they have been backed into 2.54 on the Exchange - despite opening up at above 3.00.

The hosts have drifted to 3.50, after the first price matched was sub 3.00. The draw has remained consistent at around the 3.05 mark.

The visitors may have had a long unbeaten run, but five of the nine matches ended all square, and they have drawn two of their last three on the road.

The Irish held the Netherlands in their last appearance at Windsor Park, but prior to that they were beaten 2-0 by Germany.

My concern for Northern Ireland here is that their home record is likely aided by a raucous home support - something which they don't have in the post-covid era.

Those backing Norway have it right, and I am keen to follow them in at the prices.

Goals overpriced at Windsor Park

Another low-scoring affair is expected, but I think that there is some juice in Over 2.5 at 2.86. Norway have one of the hottest strikers in Europe, and that should count for a lot here.

The recent stats aren't too bad either, with the visitors currently on a run of three matches to end with three goals or more.

The same can be said for three of Northern Ireland's last five, and at just shy of 2/1, Overs is a much better call than Under 2.5 at 1.48.