Northern Ireland vs Germany Predictions & Betting Tips

Northern Ireland visibly surprised Poland in their Euro 2016 opener with the determination among their squad and the unwillingness to lie down for their much more talented opposition. Unfortunately for them they couldn’t hold out as a 51st minute goal from Arkadiusz Milik proved to be enough for Poland to secure a 1-0 victory.

With that defeat having ended Northern Ireland’s 12 match unbeaten streak it was time for them to find the heart to bounce back, and they did it in style. Michael O’Neill made five changes from the team that played against Poland, including dropping Kyle Lafferty in favour of Conor Washington. It proved to be an inspired decision as him and Jamie Ward proved a constant nuisance to Ukraine, and they eventually reaped the rewards of their hard work when Gareth McAuley headed in the opener just after half-time. There were a few nervy moments ahead for the underdogs, but they held their ground and eventually made it a comfortable victory as Niall McGinn scored a rebound to make it 2-0 in the 96th minute.

This is an absolutely fantastic result against an admittedly poor Ukraine team, but the stubbornness in Northern Ireland’s team will be sure to have made Germany sit up and take notice of them. They have now lost just one of their last 14 matches and have conceded just eight goals during this period. This guarantees them 3rd position in the group, and they will now look towards boosting their tally in the hope of qualifying for the knockout stages.

This won’t make for good reading for a Germany side who have been criticised for their lack of goals. It doesn’t help that they are playing without an out and out striker on the pitch.  Mario Gotze has started both of Germany’s group games in the false nine position but has proved utterly ineffectual in both. They managed to get a 2-0 win against Ukraine, but against the more solid Poland defence they weren’t so lucky. A stiff Northern Ireland defence and poor Germany attack leads our predictions to believe this will be another low scoring game.

The excellent midfield of Germany dominated possession in front of the Polish 18 yard box, but they lacked a man to run in behind and couldn’t find any sort of cutting edge. Poland threatened to break as well, and in all honesty the Polish will feel a bit disappointed at failing to win the game. Arkadiusz Milik had two fantastic chances and there were a few heroic defensive moves from Jerome Boateng to deny Poland as well. Germany, on the other hand, had nothing much of note happen in front of goal. Mario Gotze was poor and eventually substituted for a more traditional striker in Mario Gomez, but he proved equally ineffectual at the spearhead of Germany’s attack. It ended goalless, and Germany might feel a bit relieved at managing to secure a point from this game.

Germany remain top of the group on goal difference, but they were far from convincing and will be looking for a much better performance against Northern Ireland. Without a more incisive striker they might find it difficult against a Northern Ireland side who are sure to sit very deep though, and I think this could be a lot closer than expected.

Northern Ireland haven’t lost by more than a single goal in any of their last 15 matches, whilst Germany have been rather flat since winning the World Cup. They have only won three of their last ten matches by more than a single goal margin, so I think betting Northern Ireland +1.5 Asian Handicap at odds of 1.925 is excellent value. I do think Germany will eventually find a winner though, so I’m going for a 1-0 correct score prediction at 11/2.