Preview: Turkey vs. Norway - prediction, team news, lineups

Turkey will be looking to move above Norway in Group G when the two teams continue their World Cup 2022 qualification campaigns with a clash in Istanbul on Friday night.

The home side are currently third in the section, having picked up 11 points from their opening six fixtures, while Norway have collected 13 points from their six matches to sit second behind the Netherlands.

Match preview

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Turkey were tipped as potential dark horses at Euro 2020, but it was a very disappointing tournament for the national team, who lost all three of their group matches to exit the competition in the first round.

The Crescent-Stars are now bidding to qualify for the finals of a World Cup for the first time since 2002, when they finished third, but Stefan Kuntz's side have work to in Group G.

Indeed, a record of three wins, two draws and one defeat from six matches has seen them collect 11 points, leaving them third in the section, two points behind both second-placed Norway and leaders Netherlands.

Turkey actually started their qualification campaign with a 4-2 home success over the Netherlands, but they lost 6-1 to Louis van Gaal's side in the reverse match on September 7.

The Euro 2008 semi-finalists have won five of their previous nine international fixtures against Norway and have not lost to Friday's opponents since February 2000.

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Norway, meanwhile, are bidding to qualify for the finals of a World Cup for the first time since 1998, when they reached the round of 16 of the competition.

Stale Solbakken's side have impressed in Group G thus far, winning four, drawing one and losing one of their six matches to collect 13 points, level with leaders Netherlands.

Norway enjoyed an excellent September, meanwhile, picking up seven points from their three matches against the Netherlands, Latvia and Gibraltar.

The Lions now have two huge matches against Turkey and Montenegro before finishing their qualification campaign with games against Latvia and Netherlands in November.

Norway still face a tough battle to claim a top-two finish in the section, but they have one of the most lethal centre-forwards in world football at their disposal, with Erling Braut Haaland continuing to find the back of the net on a regular basis; the Borussia Dortmund striker, though, will miss this match through injury.

Team News

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Turkey will be without Caglar Soyuncu, Ozan Kabak and Orkun Kokcu on Friday night through suspension, while Kenan Karaman has pulled out of the squad through injury.

Kaan Ayhan and Merih Demiral should therefore feature in the middle of the defence, while Berat Ozdemir could make his Turkey debut in the middle of the park.

Hakan Calhanoglu could be asked to operate off the left in this match, with the captain and leading goalscorer Burak Yilmaz being joined in attack by Yusuf Yazici.

As for Norway, Haaland has been forced to withdraw from the squad through injury, while Kristoffer Ajer, Jonas Svensson, Alexander Sorloth and Joshua King are among those also missing due to fitness problems.

Head coach Solbakken could decide to switch to a 4-3-3 formation due to his issues in the final third of the field, with Kristian Thorstvedt potentially leading the line.

Arsenal's Martin Odegaard could also operate in an advanced area, while Mohamed Elyounoussi and Patrick Berg are both in line for starts in the key qualification fixture.

Turkey possible starting lineup:

Bayindir; Celik, Ayhan, Demiral, Muldur; Under, Ozdemir, Tufan, Calhanoglu; Yilmaz, Yazici

Norway possible starting lineup:

Nyland; Pedersen, Hanche-Olsen, Strandberg, Meling; Fossum, Thorsby, Berg; Odegaard, Thorstvedt, Elyounoussi

We say: Turkey 2-1 Norway

A full-strength Norway outfit would fancy their chances of picking up a positive result on Friday, but the visitors are missing a number of important players for this match. We are expecting it to be a close contest in Istanbul but have just had to settle on a narrow victory for the home side.