Northern Ireland vs Slovakia Tips & Preview - Irish to maintain recent home form

By Tolu Shotade

3 hours ago

Tolu Shotade 3 hours ago

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Northern Ireland relying on strong home form in upcoming match.
Slovakia are unbeaten in Group A but struggle on the road.
Both teams involved in high-scoring matches, expect goals.

Northern Ireland vs Slovakia

Northern Ireland are aiming to bounce back from a defeat when they host Slovakia in Group A of the UEFA World Cup qualifiers.

The visitors have been perfect so far, but are generally poor travellers lately. Meanwhile, the hosts often do their best work at home and should have the upper hand in this one.

Northern Ireland News

Northern Ireland have endured a mixed start to the campaign, with one win and a defeat in their opening two matches. They began with a 3-1 victory at Luxembourg in their opening fixture before falling 3-1 to Germany last time out.

Having been on the road in their opening two matches, manager Michael O'Neill will be pleased to be back home on Friday. Northern Ireland are unbeaten in their last seven home matches across all competitions, claiming six wins on this run.

Northern Ireland often show their attacking quality in front of their fans and have scored first in their last seven home matches. Four of their last five matches across all competitions have produced over 2.5 goals.

Slovakia News

Slovakia appear to be the team to beat in Group A, having won their opening two matches. They claimed a 2-0 home victory over Germany before edging out Luxembourg 1-0 in their previous fixture.

With powerhouse Germany also in the group, the task for Slovakia will be to maintain their good form and keep the four-time world champions at bay. However, they are usually unconvincing on their travels and are winless in four of their last five away matches, suffering three defeats on this run.

Slovakia are yet to concede in these qualifiers but tend to be a bit more defensively vulnerable on their travels. Three of the last six away matches from Francesco Calzona's team have produced over 2.5 goals.

Head to Head

Slovakia have never lost in this fixture, with two wins and as many draws from four previous matches against Northern Ireland. Both teams played out a 1-1 draw during the UEFA Nations League back in 2020.

Verdict

Northern Ireland v Slovakia

Northern Ireland will be keen to give their fans something to cheer about, and having scored first in their last seven home matches, could be set for a repeat. With four of their last five matches also producing over 2.5 goals, a similar outcome could also be on the cards.

Despite never beating Slovakia, Northern Ireland will still be feeling confident ahead of this one, having won six of their last seven home matches. The hosts should get the better of the Slovaks, who have struggled on their travels lately.

Northern Ireland

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Northern Ireland

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