Northern Ireland travel to Switzerland for their European World Cup qualifying match, and Jake Pearson has previewed the fixture, picking out his best bet.
Football betting tips: World Cup qualifying
1pt Switzerland to win to nil at 20/23 (BetVictor)
Switzerland and Northern Ireland are both only four games into their World Cup qualifying campaign, and should the Swiss win their two games in hand over group-leaders Italy, they would go joint-top with the European champions.
A win for Northern Ireland in this match however, would take them level on points with Switzerland, and give them a serious chance of claiming second-place in Group C.
A 2-0 defeat to Italy wasn’t the ideal way to start qualification, but Ian Baraclough’s men are actually unbeaten in this competition since that loss, beating Lithuania and drawing against Bulgaria, and more recently Switzerland.
These two played out a stalemate in Ireland in September, with goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell coming to the rescue as he saved Haris Seferovic’s first-half penalty to make sure of the point.
Kick-off time: 19:45 BST, Saturday
TV channel: Sky Sports Football
Switzerland 1/3 | Draw 100/30 | Northern Ireland 9/1
Switzerland certainly had the better of the game on that occasion, dominating the ball and limiting the Irish to just one shot all game.
Noted for being a pragmatic team, particularly under the tutelage of Vladimir Petkovic, Switzerland look to have kept their rigidity under new manager Murat Yakin, drawing both his games in charge without scoring a goal.
The lack of goals will be something of a worry, particularly as Switzerland ranked as the 11th best team at the European Championship in terms of chances created (according to Expected Goals), failing to score in just one of their matches, but they have the players to rectify that without much fuss, and will certainly fancy their chances of ending the drought against Northern Ireland.
Ireland have scored four goals in qualification so far, the same amount as Switzerland, but all four of those goals came against Lithuania, meaning Baraclough’s men have failed to score in 75% of their World Cup qualifiers.
Given the Swiss have conceded just one, including a clean sheet against Italy, it is difficult to see Northern Ireland getting on the scoresheet in Geneva.
In fact, taking out the Euros, Switzerland have conceded just six goals in their last 10 matches.
As mentioned, the Swiss are without a goal in their last two matches, but that is a rarity, particularly when at home.
Indeed, prior to their 0-0 draw with Italy last month, the last time Switzerland failed to score when playing on home soil was November 2018.
Considering the Swiss are as short as 1/3 to win the match outright, and the trouble that Northern Ireland will face in terms of scoring past this well-drilled outfit, a price of 20/23 about SWITZERLAND TO WIN TO NIL makes obvious appeal.
Switzerland v Northern Ireland best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Switzerland to win to nil at 20/23 (BetVictor)
Score prediction: Switzerland 2-0 Northern Ireland (Sky Bet odds: 4/1)
Odds correct at 1140 BST (07/10/21)
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