Northern Ireland vs Belarus prediction, H2H & Probable Line-ups - November 15, 2024
Belarus
One of the matchups in the fifth round of the UEFA Nations League group stage will be played on Friday at Windsor Park in Belfast, where Northern Ireland will face Belarus. I suggest placing a bet on the number of goals in this match, with promising chances of success.
Match Preview
Northern Ireland is experiencing a historic moment in the Nations League, having achieved a commanding 5-0 victory over Bulgaria in the last round. This triumph marked their second win of the current tournament (1 draw, 1 loss). Under the guidance of Michael O'Neill, Northern Ireland tops their group, leading Belarus by just one point.
Additionally, they are in first place for the most goals scored in the group, with 7 goals to their name. It’s worth noting that a home win over Belarus will secure Northern Ireland the top spot in the group and a guaranteed promotion.
Belarus has shown consistency in the current Nations League campaign, finishing their last two matches in draws—0-0 with Northern Ireland and 1-1 with Luxembourg. The team remains undefeated in the tournament (1 win, 3 draws) and is only one point behind Northern Ireland at the top of the group standings.
Belarus is one of five teams in League C that has not suffered a loss this season in the Nations League. However, the Belarusian attack has been underwhelming, with only one goal scored in 4 matches, and they average just 0.8 goals per game in their encounters.
Probable Lineups
- Northern Ireland: P. Charles; Hume, McNair, Toal; Bradley, Saville, S. Charles, Price, Lewis; Marshall, Reid
- Belarus: Lapukhov; Volkov, Politovich, Zabelin, Kovalev; Yablonsky, Ebong, Pechenin, Korzun, Antilevsky, Shikavka
Match Facts and Head-to-Head
- Northern Ireland has won 3 out of 4 matches between the teams, remaining undefeated
- The "Over 2.5 goals" bet has hit in 2 out of 4 encounters
- Belarus has had the "Under 2.5 goals" bet in all of their last 4 matches
Prediction
The bookmakers confidently favor the hosts as the upcoming match's favorites, likely based on their dominant 5-0 win over Bulgaria in the last Nations League round. However, such a result doesn’t fully reflect the game’s dynamics, as Michael O'Neill's team didn’t dominate in the same emphatic way. Their xG was only 1.49, while Bulgaria’s was nearly identical at 1.22. We believe the best bet for this match is "Under 2.5 goals" with odds of 1.65.
