Haaland has been incredible at the World Cup so far, netting five goals across his three starts in the competition.

He’s benefited from being in a side that is clearly suited to his strengths with Norway well aware of the fact that they’ve got one of the best goalscorers in world football at the moment leading the line.

Haaland has taken 14 shots across his three starts at the World Cup (4.67 per 90), seeing nine of these attempts find the target (3.00 per 90) and should be encouraged by the fact that Brazil haven’t looked completely secure at the back with Japan and Morocco scoring against them. 

Haaland also scored more goals than any other player during qualifying (16) from 28 shots on target (3.57 per 90). He’s clearly adapted well to the stage of a World Cup and I think he will continue to be a real threat in this encounter.

Vinicius Jr is another superstar who has already lit up the World Cup with four goals across his four starts and it looks like he really enjoys playing under Carlo Ancelotti.

Vinicius Jr didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet against Japan last time out but looked lively throughout the encounter. 

He managed three shots in that game, seeing two of them find the target and almost scored a wonderful individual goal which highlights the confidence he’s playing with at the moment. 

Vinicius Jr has taken 15 shots overall (3.85 per 90) which is a really promising shot volume when looking to back him for a shot on target. He’s seen 10 of these efforts find the target (2.56 per 90), which shows that he’s pretty accurate with these efforts too.

I’ve come back to this selection regularly throughout the World Cup as I don’t really trust Brazil’s backline. 

Carlo Ancelotti has never been a coach that obsesses over tactical details and I think that shows a little bit in the structure of Brazil’s defence, Norway should have chances and I expect Alisson to be called into action at least twice.

Alisson has had to make 11 saves across his four starts at the World Cup (2.75 per 90) with a save percentage of 84.6%, a metric that was closer to 90% before Brazil took on Japan in the Round of 32.

Alisson was just as busy during qualifying for Brazil, making 26 saves across nine starts (2.93 per 99) with a similar save percentage (81.2%).

Brazil conceded first against Japan last time out and I think they could have been punished more by the Asian side if Japan had been a bit more bold in their attacking approach.

Norway will be able to offer that additional attacking threat having scored in all four of their matches, scoring 2+ goals in three of these games. 

The other aspect for Norway to worry about is the fact that all four of their games have seen BTTS, their own backline isn’t that strong and is likely to concede against Brazil’s talented frontline.

Brazil have shipped goals against both Japan and Morocco in their more challenging matches so far but also have scored in all four of their games, netting 2+ goals in three of these fixtures.

Brazil covered this line against Japan last time out with six corners and leveraged their advantage in aerial duels well to come away 2-1 winners with Casemiro heading home the equaliser.

Norway conceded 14 corners against Ivory Coast last time out. That high corner tally was a result of the African side recognising that Norway’s main weakness is in the fullback areas and they got the ball to their wingers to go 1v1 as often as possible.

Brazil are averaging 5.75 corners per game at the World Cup, winning 4+ corners in all four of their matches. Norway have conceded 4+ corners in all four of their matches as well and I think we’ll see Brazil try to get at them by exposing their fullbacks.

Only Michael Olise (5) has registered more assists at the World Cup than Bruno Guimaraes (4) who has been a real creative asset for this Brazil side in a midfield set up which otherwise hasn’t been too impressive.

Casemiro and Paqueta are obviously decent players, but they lack the urgency and creativity of Guimaraes who has stepped up as Brazil’s best midfielder at the tournament.

Guimaraes set up two goals across his 16 starts for Brazil during qualifying, averaging 1.43 chances created per 90. That figure has jumped to 2.38 chances created per 90 at the World Cup with an assist landing in three of his four matches.

His role on set pieces could be crucial for Brazil given that Norway have conceded 4+ corners in all four of their matches and Brazil have real aerial threats in the box for Guimaraes to try and pick out such as Gabriel and Casemiro.

Antonio Nusa is such a talented player and needs to show the quality he displayed for Norway’s opener against Ivory Coast last time out more often. That goal was really impressive, but he needs to be more involved in the game outside of that moment. 

He’s got a real advantage here as he’ll be lining up against Danilo at right back for Brazil, a position that’s been a problem area for Ancelotti as Brazil don’t really have a quality player to play in that role - which is the most obvious weakness in the Brazil backline and overall setup. 

Nusa posted a promising shot volume during qualifying with 21 shots across his six starts (3.96 per 90), resulting in two goals. He does need to refine his accuracy to get the shot on target we require here, but I expect him to beat his man on a few occasions to give himself that opportunity.

Kristoffer Ajer hasn’t picked up a card at the World Cup yet but is going to find this assignment tough with the Brentford defender having to deal with Matheus Cunha and Lucas Paqueta in central areas.

Ajer can play all across the backline, regularly lining up as a fullback for Brentford during the most recent campaign, but plays as a centre back for his national side which gives them an appealing 1v1 duel when looking to back him for a caution.

Cunha is very good at moving around a backline with his clever movement, often dropping deep and taking one of the opposition centre backs with him to open up space for Rayan and Vinicius Jr on either side. 

Cunha hasn’t quite shown his foul winning ability at the World Cup so far but this tends to be one of the stronger parts of his game. 

He averaged 1.94 fouls won per 90 during the most recent Premier League campaign and faces up against Ajer, who isn’t as mobile and picked up four cards across 20 starts in the Premier League last season.