12th November 2020 – 20:45, Windsor Park, Belfast
Northern Ireland and Slovakia are going to face each other in the EURO qualifiers on Thursday evening. Both sides are looking for a victory in this clash as the place in the final tournament is at stake.
Match Preview & Team News
Northern Ireland made it to the EURO qualifiers’ finals after a dramatic victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina after the penalty shootout. Although the odds were not in their favor, Nial McGinn and the lads held their nerve, and now, they are one step away from the main tournament. However, Ian Baraclough’s side booked the last victory in the regulation time more than a year ago when they were better than the Czech Republic. The Green and White army played seven matches since then, and besides the clash against Bosnia and Herzegovina, they managed to remain undefeated only twice. After securing a place in the finals, Northern Ireland lost against Austria and Norway, and the hosts didn’t manage to find the back of the net. They need to improve a lot to come out as the winners from this clash as well. Jonny Evans should be ready for this match despite the injury, while Corry Evans will be sidelined for this game.
Slovakia booked just a bit better results lately, and they also needed to come through the penalty drama against the Republic of Ireland. After the goalless draw in 120 minutes, Pavel Hapal’s side scored four penalties that were enough for a place in the finals. However, they lost the next two games against Scotland and Israel, which made Hapal sacked and replaced by Stefan Tarkovic. Slovakia lost three games since September and managed to keep the clean sheet only against the Republic of Ireland. The visitors will be stronger for Milan Skriniar, while Vladimir Weiss should make the first appearance for the national team since 2018. He might bring more creativity that can help Slovakia to improve their finishing.
Full-Time Winner Odds & Prediction
Neither of the national teams can be happy with its form, and the moment of inspiration should decide the winner of this game. We believe that can be Slovakia, and the visitors have never lost against their upcoming rivals from three head to head clashes.
Goals Market Prediction
Northern Ireland has lots of trouble in converting their chances into goals, while Slovakia cannot be proud of its finishing, too. Their last two head to head clashes were pretty tight, and since the stake is very high, we don’t expect to see more than two goals in total.
Northern Ireland vs Slovakia
Slovakia to win @ 3.20
Under 2.5 FT @ 1.50
Correct score 0:1 @ 7.00
