Depleted Northern Ireland face tough test
Northern Ireland's bid to end a topsy-turvy year on a high against Morocco following the disappointing draw away to the Faroe Islands is hindered by a number of high-profile absentees.
The most notable is record goalscorer David Healy, who Nigel Worthington decided to drop after a run of over two years without an international goal, however there are plenty of others missing out through injury, including Maik Taylor, Corry Evans, Chris Baird, Steven Davis and Kyle Lafferty.
The consequence is that he has been forced to pick a team with an average age of 23, which includes three teenagers and six players with five caps or fewer. Watford defender Lee Hodson and Preston midfielder Adam Barton will both make their debuts.
Somewhat surprisingly, given the victory in Slovenia and draw against Italy that have presented Northern Ireland with a fighting chance of reaching Euro 2012, they've actually won just one of their last 13 matches.
Their friendly record is even more dismal, with their only triumph in four years outside of qualifying competition coming 4-1 against Georgia in March 2008. Recently, it's been worse than ever, as they've suffered five successive defeats without scoring a single consolation goal.
Despite both those shocking statistics and Morocco heading to Europe on a three-game unbeaten streak, the visitors are only marginal favourites at [2.76], while Northern Ireland are [2.96].
As the hosts have netted just twice in their last ten encounters, there also looks to be value in backing Morocco, who should field main goal threats Marouane Chamakh and Youssouf Hadji, to keep a clean sheet at [2.98] and win either 1-0 ([9.0]) or 2-0 ([15.0]).
Northern Ireland v Morocco
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Live on Sky Sports 2
Think we're underestimating Northern Ireland's youngsters? Tell us below...
Published: 17 Nov 2010
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