Northern Ireland vs Azerbaijan Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

After such a successful campaign in France in the summer it was only a matter of time before Northern Ireland were brought back down to earth. Their goalless draw at Czech Republic in their first World Cup qualifying match is by no means a bad result though, and they followed that with a convincing 4-0 thrashing of San Marino.

Unfortunately for them their 2-0 loss at Germany was both expected and inevitable, and now the 2nd place hopefuls need to pick themselves back up against lesser opposition than group favourites Germany.

Azerbaijan sit above Northern Ireland in the group thanks to some surprisingly good form from them. They have beaten both San Marino and Norway 1-0 and then earned a goalless draw in Czech Republic to put them 2nd in their group, three points ahead of Northern Ireland.

However, the narrow points gap between the two can simply be explained by their opposition. Azerbaijan faced Norway at home in their 2nd match, whilst Northern Ireland faced a trip to Germany. Azerbaijan are performing above expectations, but I wouldn’t read too much into their chances just yet.

Any neutrals looking forward to this clash may want to temper their expectations as well. These are two very organised and defensively minded sides. Azerbaijan only put one past minnows San Marino in their group opener and have seen a total of two goals scored in their three qualifying matches so far.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland managed to turn it up against San Marino with four goals, but their two other matches have produced just two goals, both of which went to Germany. These are two very low scoring sides.

Neither Northern Ireland or Azerbaijan have seen both teams get on the scoresheet this campaign, and just one of their combined six meetings has seen three or more goals. Stretching back further, Northern Ireland have seen just two high scoring matches in their last 13 games, with both teams scoring in just two of them as well.

Azerbaijan have been involved in high scoring games just four times in their last 13, with both teams scoring in just five of them as well. This makes odds of 8/11 for Under 2.5 Goals and Both Teams Not to Score look a good value bet, and I’m backing that along with a 1-0 win for Northern Ireland at  15/4.