Two teams with very contrasting styles face each other on Sunday night, and it may be a lot closer than the odds suggest, especially if that man, Erling Haaland, is given service.
Here are the usual bits of team news, stats, trivia and of course, the betting tip ahead of this one.
Haaland and Co Can Force at Least a Draw
If your major consideration here is World Cup pedigree and history, then you can easily see why Brazil are 1.85 favourites to win the game in 90 minutes.
But they really haven’t impressed so far and look like a slightly disjointed team who haven’t really worked out how they want to play, maybe because Ancelotti still isn’t sure who his best XI is.
If Norway can create a couple of chances for Haaland, you’d expect him to put away at least one of them, and that could well be enough to at least force extra time.
There really isn’t much between these two sides; if anything, it’s Norway that has looked slightly sharper, so it’s not a tough choice to keep Norway and the draw on your side.
- Prediction: Norway or Draw on the Double Chance market
- Odds: 1.91 (at the time of writing)
- Key Stat: With the goal on Tuesday, Haaland has now scored in each of his last 13 appearances for his country.
Brazil
Brazil lived to fight another day, but they looked in real trouble against an energetic and inspired Japan side, who went 1-0 up and then let Brazil back into the game. First, they conceded an equaliser as Casemiro rose highest to head in just the sort of goal he kept scoring at Manchester United last season, before Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli won the game with a late goal.
So that they’re through to the last 16 is the good news, but they’re not exactly looking like World Cup winners at the moment. Casemiro’s goal was priceless, but he’s looked on the slow side all tournament and picked up yet another booking. One of these days he’s going to get a second and really put his team under pressure.
In attack, Vinicius Jr had a relatively quiet game by his standards but at least he tried to make things happen while Matheus Cunha and Rayan, a surprise inclusion in the starting XI, never really got going. Then there’s the case of Neymar, who was controversially picked in the squad by Carlo Ancelotti but has only played a few minutes as a sub in the Group games and didn’t come on at all here. Begging the question: why was he picked at all?
- Player to watch: Vinicius Jr - 2.3 to score / 1.73 to score or assist
Norway
Norway are rapidly becoming a team no-one wants to play.
They were good value for their two Group stage wins before playing a second-string side against France and losing that one.
But they were deserved winners against the Ivory Coast, having a bit more possession and making it count at the death, with Erling Haaland popping up to score yet another goal, his fifth of the tournament and keeping him in contention for the Golden Boot award, as highlighted in our World Cup round-up piece.
Whereas it’s true that Norway seems a little over-reliant on his goals, it’s also true that most teams have one player whose goals they’re dependent on. So they're no different.
In a big game like this, they’re going to need their skipper, Martin Odegaard, to have more of an influence on the game. The Arsenal man hasn’t quite got going, but this might be a good opportunity for him to boss a slightly weary-looking Brazil midfield.
- Player to watch: Erling Haaland - 2.0 to score or assist / 7.0 to score 2 or more goals.
Did you know?
Norway is the only international side to have played Brazil more than once and never lost to them. They beat them 2-1 at the 1998 World Cup and then drew 1-1 with them in a friendly in 2006.
