Northern Ireland to Seal Second Place

WC Qualification UEFA | Preview

04/09/17

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You must go back to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico to find the last time Northern Ireland qualified for the World Cup finals.

They were eliminated at the group stage but would love nothing more than to test themselves against the world’s best once again, by qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. As things stand in UEFA World Cup qualifying Group C, a win in this match against Czech Republic would see Northern Ireland clinch second place.

Germany cannot realistically be caught at the top of the group and they should clinch their place in the finals on Monday night. However, with 16 points to their name in second place, Northern Ireland start this match 7 points clear of the Czech Republic and even a draw would probably be good enough to see them secure second.

Czech Republic start the match in third place and know they must win this match to keep their slim hopes of a playoff place alive.

The Czech’s have qualified for the World Cup once as an individual nation and they were eliminated at the group stage in 2006, winning only one match.

Trends show Northern Ireland come into this match having won their previous four games. There have been wins in World Cup qualifying against Norway, Azerbaijan and San Marino plus a friendly victory against New Zealand.

The overriding factor in those four games has been Northern Ireland’s defence and they have kept a clean sheet in each of those matches.

At home, Northern Ireland have won four of their last five World Cup qualifying games and each of those four wins have come with a clean sheet. Including the previous European Championship qualifying matches, Northern Ireland are unbeaten at home in their last seven competitive games.

Czech Republic have found life tough in this group and just when they were about to claim a good 1-1 draw against Germany on Friday night, Mats Hummels popped up to score a late goal for the Germans.

The Czech’s have failed to win their last three games, losing at Belgium in a friendly, drawing away with Norway and losing at home Germany.

However, trends show their away record in World Cup qualifying is not bad and they have lost only two of their previous eleven World Cup qualifying matches on the road. They have scored at least once in six of their last seven away games.

Northern Ireland do not have any injury or suspension concerns ahead of this match and Michael O’Neill is likely to stick with the same starting XI from the match in San Marino. That could mean another start for Josh Magennis in attack.

Czech Republic might make a couple of changes from their home defeat to Germany with Jaromir Zmrhal and Pavel Kadaerabek hoping to come into the team.

This looks like being a match with very few goals. Northern Ireland are a team who like to defend and Czech Republic will find it difficult to break through. However, the Czech’s must win this match and if they pour forward it could leave gaps for the home team to exploit.

Northern Ireland to win to nil seems like a solid prediction for this game.