Kazakhstan vs. Northern Ireland Betting Tips: Side with the home team at the Astana Arena

In Group H we're at the halfway stage of determining which two teams will secure their place at EURO 2024 - Northern Ireland sitting seven points away from that possibility as it stands and facing Kazakhstan in the first of five necessary miracles to fulfill their Euro dreams.

It's quite remarkable watching Group H unfold. In Thursday's early kick-off, Finland ran out as 1-0 winners over Kazakhstan in what appeared to be a fairly even game by all accounts. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland gave a slightly better account of themselves, but were still put to the sword by Slovenia in an enthralling 4-2 contest.

Those results, plus Denmark's 4-0 win over San Marino, means there is now only three points between first and fourth, but a sizeable six-point deficit separating Sunday's opponents Kazakhstan and Northern Ireland from one another.

If the Green and White Army are to stand even a slim chance of qualifying for next year's competition they're going to have to cut loose and chase maximum points here. Doing that, however, only further strengthens the case for our two bets.

BTTS has only landed in Northern Ireland's most recent match, but that result and performance could well be an indicator of how they'll approach Sunday's second clash with Kazakhstan.

Michael O'Neill's side had 52% of the ball and seven of their 13 shots hit the target, despite playing away from home against a Slovenia team who are right up there in the mix for an automatic EURO 2024 qualification place.

Kazakhstan themselves will have to throw caution to the wind if they're to climb their way back up the table, and aside from San Marino, there isn't a better available opponent for that than NI.

And that is why we're taking Unibet/BetUK up on their generous 43/20 price for Kazakhstan to win the game.

The last registered FIFA men's rankings had 40 places between these two teams, with Northern Ireland occupying 64th place and Kazakhstan all the way down at 104th in the world.

EURO 2024 qualifiers, however, would suggest that these positions won't last for very long, as Northern Ireland have suffered four defeats from a possible five, while Kazakhstan have acquired nine points from a potential total of 15 available to them.

Kazakhstan got the job done at Windsor Park in June and now have the extra advantage of playing at home in this second meeting.

They pulled off a big result beating Denmark 3-2 at their national stadium of the Astana Arena on matchday 2, while also comfortably dispatching San Marino 3-0 in their following fixture.

As alluded to before, maybe Northern Ireland will channel that chaotic energy again on Sunday and look to entertain as much as anything. If a usually defensive team opts to flip the script and become primarily attack-minded once more, then like Slovenia, Kazakhstan should comfortably come away with a win from this fixture.