Whereas England were one of the pre-tournament favourites, Norway weren’t, but they thoroughly deserve their place in this quarter-final at the expense of Brazil, who they knocked out in the previous round.
Read on to find out who may play right-back for England, Erling Haaland’s absurd recent scoring record for Norway, a quirky stat around the last five games between these two and the all-important betting tip to round things off.
Norway - England Betting Tip
Bellingham has four goals and an assist from his five games, also having a total of nine shots on target so far, with only Kane having more than him (10). He’s also created plenty of chances for his teammates from a more advanced position than usual.
So if we assume England is going to get one, maybe two goals here, then you’d think England’s number 10 should contribute to at least one of them.
- Key Stat: The last five matches between these two have resulted in a 2-0 win for Norway, two 0-0s, and two England wins by 1-0; in all five matches, there was at least one clean sheet.
- Best Bet: Back Jude Bellingham to score or assist
- Odds: 2.30 (at the time of writing)
If historical stats are your thing, then you won’t like this tip because, as per the key stat, this match has a history of having at least one clean sheet in it. But Norway’s results at this World Cup paint a very different picture, and none of their five so far have seen a clean sheet for either team.
The same has happened in three of England’s five games, so this one should have goals in it.
But rather than the 1.57 on BTTS (both teams to score), we prefer the 2.3 that Bellingham can be involved in a goal by scoring or assisting one.
Norway
There were some eyebrows raised when Norway fielded a weakened side against France in their final Group match, losing 4-1, but so far that has proved to have been a good move.
It meant all the main players were well-rested for their Last 32 win over the Ivory Coast, and they then carried that momentum to their next match, beating Brazil 2-1 on Sunday night.
Unsurprisingly, it was Erling Haaland getting both goals, which have now taken his tally for the tournament to seven, but the giant Man City striker wouldn’t be scoring those goals if it weren’t for the hard work of all those around him.
They’ve already exceeded expectations by getting this far, and they're certainly in no rush to book those flights home just yet.
Alexander Sorloth, normally a central striker, has been mostly used on the left here because of Haaland’s presence in the middle, but it hasn’t really worked so far for the Atletico Madrid man, so Benfica’s Andreas Schjelderup may get a start in this one.
- Player to watch: Erling Haaland– 2.0 to score / 3.1 to have 3 or more shots on target.
England
England have done it the hard way these last couple of matches, first recovering from 1-0 against DR Congo to go and win 2-1 and then beating Mexico in a hard-fought match that saw a first-minute yellow for Declan Rice, a sending off for Jarell Quansah, a penalty for each side and plenty more action all around the pitch.
That included two well-taken goals for Jude Bellingham. It’s hard to believe now that some were even questioning his place in the team at the start of the tournament, but alongside Harry Kane, who scored against Mexico as well to take his tally to six goals, Real Madrid man Bellingham has probably been their best player.
That win over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium will have given the team plenty of confidence, and the good news is that they didn’t need extra time in either knockout match, so they don’t have any excuses to be too fatigued.
But they have a problem at right-back. Quansah’s sending off will mean a recall for either Djed Spence or Reece James (if James is fit to play), but another option is to play Ezri Konsa there. The rest of the team picks itself.
- Player to watch: Jude Bellingham – 3.4 to score anytime / 2.88 to have 2 or more shots on target
Did you know?
Haaland has now scored 27 goals in his last 15 appearances for Norway at a barely believable rate of 1.8 goals per game. At this World Cup, he has scored seven of Norway’s 12 goals in total.
