Match Preview  - 17:00 Kick-Off at New Antalya Stadium, Antalya

Group I of the World Cup Qualifying European Region is the most captivating of the lot. When the group was originally drawn, at least 4 of the participants would have fancied their chances of securing a position at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Turkey were certainly among that ambitious quartet and although they have enjoyed mixed fortunes so far, a home fixture against Finland represents an ideal opportunity to claim 3 more precious points.

Although Finland could never be classed as minnows, they are understandably seen as “makeweights” in Group I and their results thus far have been sub-par. With just 1 point gained in a home draw with bottom side Kosovo, Finland’s chances of making the World Cup can be written off already.

Turkey and Finland have scored just 5 and 3 goals respectively so far, so don’t expect fireworks in this one.

Turkey’s FIFA World Cup Qualifying Group I Results so far:

Sept 5th 2016 - Croatia 1:1 Turkey

Oct 6th 2016 - Turkey 2:2 Ukraine

Oct 9th 2016 - Iceland 2:0 Turkey

Nov 12th 2016 - Turkey 2:0 Kosovo

Finland’s FIFA World Cup Qualifying Group I Results so far:

Sept 5th 2016 - Finland 1:1 Kosovo

Oct 6th 2016 - Iceland 3:2 Finland

Oct 9th 2016 - Finland 0:1 Croatia

Nov 12th 2016 - Ukraine 1:0 Finland

 Odds

Turkey 4/9

Finland 8/1

Draw 7/2

Predictions

Turkey are strong favourites going into this one and although they should have enough to see off Finland, the final scoreline should be pretty close. A victory by a narrow margin for the home side.

Our Tips

With goals expected to be scarce in Antalya, odds of 8/11 for under 2.5 goals with Ladbrokes looks a safe bet. Even more tempting is Bet365’s odds of 1/1 for Turkey to win to nil.

Under 2.5 goals - 8/11 - Ladbrokes

Turkey to win to nil - 1/1 - Bet365