Ottmar Hitzfeld's men have a place at next summer's World Cup within their grasp and our tipster does not expect them to leave anything to chance on Tuesday
Switzerland can become one of the first European sides to secure their place at next summer’s World Cup when they travel to the Ullevaal Stadium to face Norway on Tuesday.Ottmar Hitzfeld’s men currently sit four points clear of their hosts with three games left to play, meaning a draw between Iceland and Albania in the other match would allow them to move beyond reach with victory in Oslo, available at 7/4 (2.75) with William Hill.However, Drillos have only lost one competitive match in front of their own fans in the last five years and are favourites at 8/5 (2.60) to keep their automatic qualification hopes alive with all three points in this match.
The sides shared a 1-1 draw when they met in Bern back in October and you can get odds of 11/5 (3.20) on them cancelling each other out once again here.
Schweizer Nati had a chance to move within touching distance of Brazil when they led 4-1 with just over half an hour to go at home to Iceland on Friday, only to suffer an uncharacteristic collapse that saw them finish the match level at 4-4 and with just one point rather than three.
Neutrals tuning in hoping to witness similar entertainment on Tuesday are likely to end up disappointed however, as Hitzfeld is not a manager who leaves anything to chance on the road.The former Bayern Munich coach’s robust approach on his side's travels means his side are yet to concede a single goal as visitors in this qualification campaign. He would be delighted to leave Oslo with that record intact and ideally a similar result to Albania’s 1-0 win at this stadium back in March.
Boasting a four-point cushion to fall back on at the top of the table, the Swiss are unlikely to take any risks, rather challenging Egil Olsen’s men to try and break them down while hoping to strike on the counter attack.
With such cat and mouse tactics, and end-to-end game seems unlikely and odds of 19/20 (1.95) are well worth investing in on at least one team drawing a blank, in a bet that would have paid out in seven of Switzerland’s last eight competitive away games.