Northern Ireland vs. England Predictions: Will the Lionesses run riot again?

We’re still getting our breath back from the sensational performance conjured up by the Lionesses in their 8-0 hammering of Norway: a record win at the finals. The result meant England booked their place in the Women’s Euro 2022 quarter-finals and in the process secured top spot in Group A.

England face fellow Home Nations side Northern Ireland in their final group game at Southampton’s St Mary’s stadium on Thursday night, live on BBC 1 at 8pm.

Below we pick out two tips for the match.

England, now unbeaten in 36 competitive home games, are enjoying an eight game winning run, during which they’ve scored 39 goals and conceded just two goals. As a result they are now priced at 3/1 in the Euro 2022 outright odds while Beth Mead’s hat-trick shot the Arsenal player to the summit of the top goalscorer odds market at 5/4.

With top spot secured and either Spain or Denmark awaiting in the quarter-finals, it will be interesting to see what approach ​​Sarina Wiegman takes to the Northern Ireland match. The Dutch Euro 2017 winning manager is highly likely to rest players and switch things up, after all her squad boasts plenty of strength in depth. 

Whatever team she fields - with all due respect - should be far too strong for opponents Northern Ireland, reflected in the betting which shows England as a miniscule 1/50 to make it three wins out of three in Group A.

Northern Ireland’s losing streak was extended to six games after they were defeated 2-0 to Austria which followed an opening 4-1 loss to Norway, meaning they are out of Euro 2020 and now playing for pride in their final match. It’s rare that you’ll ever find a team out at 100/1 to win a professional football match, but William Hill have slapped a three-figure price on The Green and White Army to stun England and in turn claim their first ever major tournament win, whereas just a draw is 20/1.

Much has been made of England’s blistering attack under Wiegman, and rightly so, they are just seven short of hitting a century of goals since she took over. Considering she’s only managed 16 games, this is pretty astonishing.

However, England have also been incredibly strong at the back, conceding all of three goals during those 16 games. 12 of those games have been won to nil which can be backed at 1/2 against a Northern Ireland side England have beaten 4-0, 5-0, and 6-0 in the last three meetings. 

England are also yet to concede this tournament with the 8-0 win over Norway resulting in their sixth clean sheet in their last seven matches in all competitions.

With England such a short price to win - 1/50! - we’ve had to look elsewhere for some value. 

England were absolutely rampant against Norway, smashing in eight goals, but it should have been even more. They had a whopping 25 shots during the 90 minutes, 15 of which were on target. Under Wiegman, they’ve now scored an unbelievable 93 goals in just 16 games - surely a cheat code? - netting 8+ on six different occasions.

With the rampant Lionesses in such fine goalscoring form, we like the look of Wiegman’s side at 11/4 on the -4 handicap (Paddy Power). Handing a team a -4 deficit at the start of a game in tournament football may raise eyebrows, but England are in sensational form right now and are fully capable of running riot once again on Friday night.

It’s a bet that’s landed in three of England’s last seven games - including the 5-0 win over Northern Ireland back in April - and a hefty seven of their 16 games under Wiegman. In fact, England lead 16-0 in the last three duels between the sides, with the -4 handicap also landed in a 6-0 thrashing last year; just narrowly missing out in a 4-0 win (also in 2021). 

If England can dismantle an in-form Norway side 8-0 - ranked 11th in the world - you really do fear for a Northern Ireland side ranked down in 47th and on the back of six straight defeats. The Lionesses scored six goals in the first half alone and, despite the likelihood of changes, they have an assortment of attacking stars itching for goals, including the likes of Nikita Parris, Alessia Russo, Beth England, Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly who will all be hoping for their first Euro 2022 starts.

If you’re after something a bit extra, we’ve pieced together this 14/1 Bet Builder with Betfair.

As highlighted already in this piece, we expect attacking returns from England who we’re backing to score over 4.5 goals (2/1). 

The Lionesses hammered home six in the first-half of their clash with Norway, making over 1.5 goals appeal (13/20). 

Add on 21/10 for the first-half to be the highest-scoring - which has been the case in each of England’s games so far - and you’ve got yourself a 14/1 treble.