Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan Predictions & Betting Odds – 11th November 2016

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World Cup Betting

Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan Betting Preview – World Cup 2018 Qualifiers 11th November

Northern Ireland may well have a game on their hands on Friday night in World Cup 2018 qualification. The Irish go into the game needing the boost of a win because they trail second placed Azerbaijan in the group by three points. So a defeat in this one could be a bit of a disaster for the Irish. Azerbaijan are quickly establishing themselves as a resilient, battling side who can punch above their weight, much as Northern Ireland already are. This is likely to be a very tight scrap and Northern Ireland will have to dig deep in this one.

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Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan Betting Tips

Pressure will be on Northern Ireland to deliver in this one. So far they have picked up the four points from their three games and they need to pick themselves up from a loss against Germany last time out. No real shame in that loss. The Irish earned a good point away from home at the Czech Republic to kick off their World Cup 2018 qualification campaign and then they followed that up with a win over San Marino as expected. So it hasn’t been the easiest of stats for Northern Ireland in this group and this one may not be particularly easy either. Even though they ran off four goals against San Marino, Northern Ireland have failed to score in their other two group games. It is therefore very likely that this one is going to drift away under 2.5 goals and that can be backed at a quote of 19/40 at Bet365.

This will actually be the fifth meeting between the two nations and each of their four previous match ups have gone under the 2.5 goal line. The two of them were together as recently as World Cup 2014 qualification and Northern Ireland came off worst in the meetings, collecting just the one point from the two games which was in a 1-1 home draw. A repeat of the 1-1 draw playing itself out on Friday between them will fetch a price of 13/2 in the correct score market at Bet365. In the Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan Correct Score market you have a 1-0 win for the Irish as the shortest priced option at 15/4. Make no mistake there is pressure on Northern Ireland to perform in this one. In the anytime goalscorer market, they have Kyle Lafferty at a price of 13/8 to net, with Conor Washington, Will Grigg and Josh Magennis all running at a price of 2/1.

So what of Azerbaijan. Well, the minnows have made positive strides so far in the World Cup 2018 qualification group, remaining unbeaten across their three games. They edged 1-0 wins over both San Marino and an impressive one over Norway, while also impressively they held the Czech Republic to a draw away from home, to match what Northern Ireland did there. So there many not be too much between the Irish and Azerbaijan on Friday and the visitors would be ecstatic with a point in the bag form this one. That would actually keep them in second place in Group C of qualifying with four games played. Robert Prosinecki’s men are in some resilience for mat the moment and have gone W2 D3 L1 in their last six games.

Azerbaijan have also come away with clean sheets in each of their last three played and they have collected four in their last six. So this will be an exercise of patience for Northern Ireland in trying to break them down. Both Teams Not To Score will return a price of 1/2 in what is expected to be a very tight scrap. Azerbaijan then have scored just two qualification goals so far and one of those was an own goal from Norway. So they aren’t going to roll out a huge attacking threat in this one and won’t put the Irish back line under a tremendous amount of pressure. But they will make the hosts work hard to break them down. So, will Northern Ireland be able to make the crucial breakthrough that will see them pull level on points with Azerbaijan?

Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan Betting Odds

Northern Ireland 4/7, Draw 13/5, Azerbaijan 11/2

Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan Predictions

Not an easy game for the Irish here because they will face a tough defence. Northern Ireland aren’t a great threat themselves going forward and may struggle to break down aside who will sit pretty deep behind the ball. Given that Northern Ireland have failed to score in two of their three qualifiers and Azerbaijan are yet to concede, a 0-0 correct score may have appeal and there is a decent price on the draw in the match outright too.