Northern Ireland vs Luxembourg Prediction and Betting Tips: Best bets in Belfast
Northern Ireland lock horns with Luxembourg in the Nations League on Thursday 5th September, live on ITV3 and ITVX.
Northern Ireland vs Luxembourg Predictions
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Only San Marino finished below Northern Ireland in Euro 2024 qualification Group H in what was, on paper at least, a group they really should have been competitive in.
On the plus side, The Green and White Army finished strongly with a 2-0 victory over group winners Denmark and have since beaten Scotland at Hampden Park, claimed a 1-1 draw away to Romania, and beaten Andorra 2-0. In amongst this, they did suffer a 5-1 defeat to Spain, who a month later won the Euros.
The Spain thrashing aside, Northern Ireland can draw confidence from this pocket of form as they prepare for a third-division Nations League group featuring Luxembourg, Bulgaria, and Belarus - all four countries will fancy their chances of leaping up a league.
Up first it's a home clash against Luxembourg who have had a mixed year featuring a 9-0 defeat to Portugal and a 4-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina; summing up their inconsistency in a nutshell. They did, however, amass an impressive 17 points in Euro 2024 qualifying and were then beaten by Georgia in the play-offs.
Still, its Northern Ireland that have landed favouritism in the Northern Ireland vs Luxembourg Odds where they can be backed at 23/20 with Midnite. Luxembourg are around the 14/5 mark with most bookmakers, while a draw is available at 9/4.
As touched upon, Northern Ireland's form is promising with three wins, a draw, and only one defeat from their last five games - a significant improvement on the seven defeats in eight which preceded this upturn.
Northern Ireland have also been fast-starters, taking a two-minute lead away to Spain, a seven-minute lead away to Romania, and a 16-minute lead against Andorra, while their fans had to wait a little longer for a 32nd minute opener at Scotland.
In contrast, Luxembourg have conceded the first goal in each of their last four matches and seven of the last nine, while they leaked in a 16th minute goal to Northern Ireland when the teams last met in 2022.
With that said, the improving hosts take my fancy at 4/5 with Sky Bet to score the game's first goal, a bet which has been green ticked in each of their last five games.
We could see both managers adopt a slightly more cautious approach given that this is the opening match of what promises to be a competitive group, with the result potentially resting on one or two critical moments.
It would not be surprising if the match was to be decided by a single goal with Northern Ireland's Dion Charles attracting attention at odds of 6/1 in the first goalscorer market.
The Bolton striker currently leads the League One Opta Stats for both total shots (14) and shots on target (6) this season; and has netted two goals in his six appearances across all competitions.
Last season, Charles achieved an impressive tally of 21 goals for both club and country - which saw him linked with a move to the Championship - and scored in his last appearance for Northern Ireland: the impressive 2-0 victory over Denmark.
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