Hungary vs Norway Betting Tips

Norway had the better of what was a surprisingly entertaining 1st leg but for all their attempts on the Hungarian goal, of which there were plenty, they failed to break the deadlock. To make matters worse Laszlo Kleinheisler netted for the visitors which gives them a 1-0 lead to take into the 2nd leg in Budapest.

Advantage Hungary it most certainly is but Norway showed enough to suggest the tie is not dead. They were the slight favourites to progress before a ball was kicked and have probably got a little more quality than the Hungarians.

Their performances in the final group games were good with wins coming away to Bulgaria and at home to Croatia while they were only narrowly beaten 2-1 in Italy. Norway were unlucky in the 1st leg and are certainly capable of avoiding defeat here but whether they will have enough to progress remains to be seen.

Hungary are not a great side and recent results have been mixed. They came 3rd in what wasn’t a particularly strong group behind Northern Ireland and Romania. Their only home wins in the group phase were both by just 1 goal against Finland and the Faroe Islands so they aren’t a huge force on home soil.

Having won the away leg there is also now quite a bit of pressure on them to finish the job. This once great footballing nation hasn’t qualified for a major tournament since 1986 and every single member of the Hungary squad will be aware of that fact on Sunday evening and the weight of expectancy on them to end 30 years of hurt could just get to one or two of them.

A draw will see them to France next summer and as the game wears on that could lead towards an increasingly cautious attitude and they won’t take any major risks to try and win the game. 2 of their last 3 competitive home games have finished 0-0 and they would certainly be delighted with a third here although they can’t afford to approach the game with that attitude. It could become a question of whether the visitors are good enough to unlock the Hungarian defence. If they can create as many chances as they did in the 1st leg, the odds of that seem likely and Norway look good value at 5/6 to win in the ‘draw no bet’ market.

The first game in Oslo could easily have had several goals in it and perhaps we will see more here. The visitors will have to attack the game and Hungary can’t afford to just sit back for 90 minutes so a few goals at both ends are possible and a 2-1 away win looks good value at 10/1.