Bulgaria vs Norway Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Joel Amorim Sep 01, 2015 @ 02:59 pm

Next Thursday, 3rd of June 2015, a refurbished Bulgaria will measure forces with Norway at the Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski in Sofia for a Group H match for the Euro 2016 Qualifying Round.

It is fair to say that Bulgaria have changed for the better ever since Ivaylo Petev took the helm of the team back in December. After an unimpressive streak of results before Petev’s arrival, the former Ludogorets and AEL Limassol manager restored some of the team’s lost flame and granted a 2-2 draw against Italy in his first official match, after snatching a similar result on a friendly clash against their neighbours Romania almost two months earlier.

The team is still far from perfection but they seem to have finally managed to turn the page. A recent heavy 4-0 defeat during a preparation match against Turkey might have left the fans wondering if Petev’s honeymoon with Bulgaria has come to an end and they are certainly hoping that their team manages to bounce back next Thursday when they meet Norway at Sofia.

When both sides met in Norway almost one year ago, the home side granted the three points by winning the match 2-1 with goals from Elyounoussi and Nielsen and now the Bulgarians not only have the opportunity to avenge such defeat but also the possibility of changing places with the Norwegians in their group table if they manage to win the match.

As for Norway, they are also far from being a consistent team recently as they only managed to win one of their last five matches. After a somewhat humiliating 5-1 defeat in Zagreb against Croatia, the Nordic team stumbled again during their home clash with the rejuvenated Azerbaijan from Robert Prosinecki.

In their previous clash against Bulgaria back in October 2014, Norway’s wonderboy, Martin Ødegaard, came in as substitute and became the youngest footballer ever to play in a European Championship qualifying match.

Bulgaria

Stats: W-1 L-1 D-3

Recent Form - WLDDD

Norway

Stats: W-1 L-2 D-2

Recent Form - DDLWL

Possible Line-ups

Bulgaria (4-2-3-1) - Mihaylov - Bandalovski - Aleksandrov - Bodurov - Minev - Dyakov - Gadzhev - Milanov - M. Aleksandrov - Popov - Micanski

Norway (4-4-2) – Nyland - Elabdellaoui - Forren - Hovland - Hogli - Johansen - Nordtveit - Odegaard - Tettey - Soderlund - Valon Berisha

Injury List / Suspended Players

Bulgaria - None

Norway - None

Head-to-head matches:

League Positions