North Macedonia will play against Finland in a friendly match. The game will take place on 17 November at 17:00 UK time.
Tournament – World Friendlies;
Date – 17.11.2022;
Kick-Off – 17:00 UK;
Venue – Philip II Arena (36.460);
City – Skopje, North Macedonia.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap (-1) for North Macedonia – 3.32.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Goals Under 2.5 – 1.616.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #3 – 1st Half Goals Under 1.5 – 1.37.
Northern Macedonia has experimented a lot in the Nations League since their defeat against Portugal. The lack of success in the tournament is a case in point. Tonight, they are likely to break their streak of three straight defeats. They are traditionally strong and dangerous at home. Finland is not an easy opponent, but they are vulnerable on the road and can win at home.
North Macedonia is not a high-scoring team, the frontline is limited in selection. The coach is likely to use a rotation tonight, so we can’t expect a hail of goals from the hosts. Finland plays pretty close football with an eye on defence. Finland is unlikely to play in that style today as well, so the game will not be productive.
In North Macedonia’s last three games, less than 1.5 goals have been scored in the first half.
Northern Macedonia made a lot of noise in World Cup qualification as the team managed to finish second in their group and reach the playoffs, where they knocked Italy out of qualification in their first match. However, in the decisive encounter with Portugal, the team lost 0-2 and was left out.
Northern Macedonia has clear difficulties with the organisation of the game. Of course, the team’s results are also modest.
In recent matches, North Macedonia has looked a little pale. True, the last three games were lost.
North Macedonia had a disappointing last encounter. The team lost minimally to Saudi Arabia (0-1).
Matches with Finland are traditionally difficult for the team. Of their four head-to-head encounters, only one has been won.
Finland also had a fierce battle for second place in qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar. However, unlike their rivals today, the team lost its fight for the second spot to Ukraine.
The Finns also lack stability. A team from the country of Suomi is capable of playing a brilliant match and then failing miserably.
Finland, on the other hand, was successful in its last game. In the Nations League, they beat Montenegro (0-2).
Before that, Croatia had a (1-1) draw with Romania. So, the Finns are relatively unimpressed with the results.
In this encounter, the Finns will obviously be active in the attack. They have a number of scorers, and their opponents also have problems in defence.
In our opinion, the teams will take to the field with the following line-ups:
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski; S. Ristovski, Ristevski, Velkovski, Musliu, Alioski; Spirovski, Bardhi, Elmas; Miovski, Velkovski.
Finland: Hradecky; Alho, Vaisanen, Ivanov, O’Shaughnessy, Ollila; Kairinen, Soiri, Lingman; Pohjanpalo, Forss.
The fixture will be played at Philip II Arena (36.460) in Skopje, North Macedonia.
This starting whistle will sound on the 17th of November, 2022, at 18:00 UK Time.
We recommend checking out the odds for the World Friendlies: North Macedonia vs Finland at 1xBet.