Denmark vs Finland Predictions

• Denmark are without several key attacking players (Eriksen, Skov Olsen, Lindstrom & Dolberg)
• Finland were level at HT in their last two Nations League away games
• Denmark have failed to score a first-half goal in six of their last nine games
• Six of the last nine meetings between these nations have featured one goal or less.

Finland can make depleted Danes wait for breakthrough

Denmark could be made to work hard for the three points they will be expected to get against Finland in Thursday’s Euro 2024 qualifier at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium.

Kaspar Hjulmand’s men were one of the big disappointments at last year’s World Cup when, for whatever reason, they looked timid and tired. The coach has sprung a few changes for the start of this qualification programme, reducing the average age of the squad by more than a year.

He is without several key players through injury, such as Christian Eriksen, Andreas Skov Olsen, Jesper Lindstrøm and Kasper Dolberg, which has reduced the average number of caps in the squad from 39 to 25.

Disciplined visitors will be in for a tough night

That general lack of experience should help the Finns’ cause as they head to Copenhagen looking to avoid defeat again. Markku Kanerva’s men are a disciplined bunch who operate in a 5-3-2 system that can easily morph into a 3-5-2 in possession.

They performed encouragingly in last summer’s Nations League, remaining unbeaten at home, losing narrowly at Romania and Bosnia and Herzegovina before beating Montenegro on the road. But if Denmark rediscover anything like their 2022 Nations League form then this will be a very tough evening for them.

The best bet is to take the Finns to hold out until the break before Denmark force a second-half breakthrough with a correct score play of 1-0 to the hosts attractive because these two nations rarely produce many goals when they are in direct competition.