Papua New Guinea vs Solomon Islands Prediction and Betting Tips | November 16th 2024

Papua New Guinea welcome Solomon Islands to the PNG Football Stadium for a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Saturday (November 16th). The hosts are coming into the game on the back of a 3-3 draw against Fiji at the same venue on Wednesday.

They were 2-1 up at the break with Joseph Joe and Ati Kepo scoring either side of Thomas Dunn. Roy Krishna drew the game level in the 54th minute while Raymond Gunemba and Merrill Nand scored injury time goals to ensure the spoils were shared.

Solomon Islands, meanwhile fell to a 3-2 defeat at home to New Caledonia. They went behind to Joseph Athale's sixth-minute strike but Raphael Lea'i and Javin Wae scored to give them a 2-1 lead at the break. Athale completed his brace just before the hour-mark while Gerard Waia stepped off the bench to score the match-winner for New Caledonia.

The loss left them at the foot of Group A on zero points. Papua New Guinea are one point better off in third spot.

Papua New Guinea vs Solomon Islands Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

Solomon Islands have 12 wins from the last 18 head-to-head games. Papua New Guinea were victorious three times while three games were drawn.
Their most recent clash came in October 2023 when Solomon Islands claimed a 3-1 victory in a friendly.
Papua New Guinea's last five games have witnessed goals at both ends, with four games in this sequence producing three goals or more.
Solomon Islands have lost their last seven games on the bounce, failing to find the back of the net on six occasions.
Papua New Guinea have won just one of their last nine games (excluding their awarded win over Cook Islands), losing four games in this sequence.
The last six head-to-head games have witnessed goals at both ends and also produced over 2.5 goals.

Papua New Guinea vs Solomon Islands Prediction

Papua New Guinea dropped three places to 171st in the latest FIFA World Rankings. Furthermore, they have lost the last four head-to-head games.

Solomon Islands have had a disastrous qualifiers so far but have historically been superior when it comes to head-to-head record in this fixture. They are ranked 147th in the world according to FIFA.

We are backing Solomon Islands to claim a narrow win with goals at both ends.

Prediction: Papua New Guinea 1-2 Solomon Islands

Papua New Guinea vs Solomon Islands Betting Tips

Tip 1 - Solomon Islands to win

Tip 2 - Both teams to score

Tip 3 - Over 2.5 goals