World Cup Qualifying: Northern Ireland vs Switzerland preview

Northern Ireland are looking to qualify for their first World Cup final tournament since 1986 but first they have to get past Switzerland in the World Cup Qualifying Play-Offs. The two teams will meet in the first leg of the play-off tie on Thursday at Windsor Park in Belfast. Their last direct meeting was in a friendly match in 2004, which ended goalless. Before that they had met all the way back in 1964, also in a campaign to qualify for the World Cup, and each of the two teams managed to win their home match. Northern Ireland did well to finish second in Group C, Germany dominated the group and won all their ten matches but the Irish managed to squeeze past the Czech Republic and Norway and earn themselves a place in the play-offs. However, they have lost their last two group matches: 3-1 at home against Germany and 1-0 in Norway. Head coach Michael O'Neil will most likely stick to the players that featured the most during the qualification campaign as he has no injury worries ahead of the match. Switzerland came very close to finishing at the top of their group but they lost their last match 2-0 in Portugal and had to settle for second place on goal difference. That was the only defeat of their campaign after a great ten-match winning streak after the 2016 European Championship. In fact, they got more points than any other second-placed team in the European qualification groups. The only notable absence in their squad ahead of this tie is that of defender Johan Djourou, and Manuel Akanji should step up to replace him. Probable line-ups: Northern Ireland: McGovern - McLaughlin, McAuley, J. Evans, Brunt - Davis, C. Evans - Magennis, Norwood, Dallas - Washington Switzerland: Sommer - Lichtsteiner, Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez - Xhaka, Freuler - Shaqiri, Dzemaili, Mehmedi - Seferovic My prediction: 0-0 draw. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Northern Ireland win - 3.75 Draw - 3.10 Switzerland win - 2.29