Cyprus v Norway: Haaland can fire visitors to vital win

• Haaland has scored 4 in last 3 internationals

• Norway need win to keep top-two hopes on track

• Cyprus have lost all five qualifiers

Cyprus v Norway
Thursday 12 October, 19:45
Live on ViaPlay

It was a bit nervy, as we thought it would be, but Wormatia Worms' 2-1 win over Mechtersheim last night kept us under the 3.5 Goals line, and maintained our perfect start to the week.

Now we'll switch our attention to international football, because Norway are visiting Cyprus, and the Northern Europeans have to be pretty much perfect from here on in. Scotland and Spain have set the pace at the top of the group, so now Erling Haaland and company need them to slip up if hopes of a top-two finish are to remain alive.

Despite having Manchester City superstar Haaland and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard in their ranks, Norway have won just two of their five qualifiers so far, and their somewhat careless 2-1 home defeat to Scotland (they were 1-0 up in the 87th minute) is the result that has done the most damage. However, it's not all bad - Stale Solbakken's side has won the last two games 3-1 against Cyprus and 2-1 versus Georgia, and they played some really enterprising football in both matches.

It also does no harm to have arguably the world's most exciting centre-forward in the team. Haaland has bashed in 25 goals in 26 caps, and he's only eight goals behind his country's record goalscorer Jörgen Juve. The former Dortmund and Salzburg hitman has netted four goals across his last three caps. He'll have good support, with Club Brugge youngster Antonio Nusa in outstanding form against Georgia last time out.

Cyprus have been the group's whipping boys so far, losing all five of their qualifiers. They have conceded 17 goals and scored just two, and their last competitive win was a 1-0 success against Greece over a year ago. They have lost their last three home matches to Bulgaria, Georgia and Scotland.

We can use the Sportsbook's Bet Builder to back Norway to win, Haaland to score and Over 2.5 Goals at 2.0521/20.