Wales v Norway: Deflated visitors to witness Welsh revival

Internationals / Michael Lintorn / 11 November 2011 /

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Gareth Bale has been warmly praised by Norway left back John-Arne Riise

"As Norway have lost all three of their matches outside of Oslo in 2011, Wales provide huge appeal at chunky odds of [2.98]."

Norway were superb for the majority of Euro 2012 qualifying, whereas Wales only came good at the end, but the hosts are the team to back in Cardiff on Saturday...

Wales v Norway, Saturday 15:00 BST, Sky Sports 2, Match odds: Wales [2.98], Norway [2.68], The Draw [3.35]

The players seemed fairly excited from the start but to many neutrals, Wales' decision to replace John Toshack with Gary Speed, whose only managerial experience was four months of misery at Sheffield United, was an uninspiring one.

Three straight defeats at the start of his tenure appeared to support that outlook, however the transformation since has been remarkable, with four wins claimed in six games and just Australia and England resisting the resurgent force.

Another consequence has been a dramatic rise from 117th to 45th in the FIFA world rankings which must leave the FAW cursing the fact that the World Cup 2014 qualifying draw was held in July when they were among the minnows in pot six.

Saturday's visitors Norway are a step up from the last two nations that Wales beaten, Switzerland and Bulgaria, and can consider themselves more unfortunate than anyone to have missed out on Euro 2012.

They were outperformed by none of the eight play-off participants yet finished third behind Portugal in Group H on goal difference despite an identical head-to-head record.

Falling short by such a fine margin threatens to have a negative impact on Egil Olsen's side, and as they have lost all three of their matches outside of Oslo in 2011, Wales provide huge appeal at chunky odds of [2.98].

Wales clean sheet

As hinted at above, Norway's away form has deteriorated drastically since a fine 2-1 victory over Republic of Ireland almost a year ago, to the extent that they haven't even mustered a goal on their travels since departing Dublin.

Wales have shut out the opposition in their last two fixtures, a feat rendered all the more impressive by the absence of James Collins, who is again ruled out. They have also kept clean sheets in their two meetings with Norway over the last decade, so should be backed at [3.35] to achieve another.

Best Bet: Wales to win @ [2.98]
Other Recommended Bet: Wales to keep a clean sheet @ [3.35]

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