Norway are way down in 4th place in Group E, but are only two points off second spot and still have matters in their own hands, if they beat third placed Slovenia today and Iceland on Tuesday, they will be second.... simple. Things are often so much easier when they are cut and dry like that, drop points today and they are very likely to be eliminated. Of course, Slovenia have eveything to play for too, but have looked vunerable at home on occasion, like many teams in this group, with the three front contenders for the runner up spot having each lost two of their four home starts. A draw will not help either much and could be fatal, so I expect an open encounter and prefer what I consider the better all round team, at bigger odds.

Upfront, Slovenia have Tim Matavž of PSV,who has been regularly eyed up by bigger clubs around Europe and Milivoje Novaković and Zlatan Ljubijankič, both of whom play for Omiya Ardija in J League and who have been discussed regularly in clubgowi notes this year.  Omiya have lost 12 from 13 and their striking duo have just three goals between over that sequence and like their club team, the pair are probably low on confidence. Matavž has only scored once in his last seven starts for PSV and this is in stark contrast to his last couple of seasons, when he has been most prolific early in the campaign and the trio all look a little off their game.
Influential winger Valter Birsa of Milan and Josip Iličić of Fiorentina are both injured, which robs them of their best midfield options and where Kevin Kampl is expected to play, whilst less than 100% ,they have now been joined on the sidelines by very experienced defender Bojan Jokić of Villarreal and I have just heard that Matavž misses out too.

That is even further encouragement for me and the visitors.Norway needed a late penalty to win the reverse fixture in Oslo, but had largely dominated the match and have never lost to Slovenia in six previous meetings ( five wins) . New coach Per-Mathias Høgmo should know his players a little better today and this is the moment he has been waiting for...."This is a job I have longed for my entire career. I am an innovative person, and want to put my stamp on how Norway will play. I initially said yes to take over from Egil from the New Year."But when the NFF wanted me to take over for the remaining matches in the autumn - and he (Olsen) supported me - I was in no doubt. I'm hoping for a boost against Slovenia and Iceland."

I favour the visitors and with now all the pressure on Slovenia and missing key players and with offensive options looking very limited, this is a good opportunity for Norway and their new coach to take things down to a decider. With the draw of questionable use, I prefer the straight win. 1.25 units Norway -0.5 ball 3.00-3.20 general quote.... although the best quote might well be the -0.25 ball 2.71 with Pinnacle Sports.

This is one of three previews sent to subscribers early this norning and they are likely to receive another 10-11 match/event previews this weekend. None of those will be available as free to view content, only about 10% of the circa 30 clubgowi previews that are produced each week ever are, so you are only seeing the very tip of the iceberg. To see the bigger picture, click here.

Good Luck.