Northern Ireland to beat ex-Republic boss
Quite how Dublin-born former Republic of Ireland boss Brian Kerr felt about Nigel Worthington's clumsy description of him as a "British manager" is unclear, but while he'll be highly motivated for a home game against Northern Ireland later today, his Faroe Islands side are huge underdogs.
Whereas Northern Ireland started their qualifying campaign by winning away in Slovenia and holding Italy at Windsor Park, the hosts have opened with four losses, conceding five against both the teams that Northern Ireland kept clean sheets against. The 2-1 victory over Lithuania last September shortly after Kerr's arrival now appears a distant memory.
Kerr, who came close to taking Republic of Ireland to the 2006 World Cup, appears to be enjoying the challenge of leading the nation ranked the fifth worst in Europe though, quipping last year that: "The pool is quite limited, there's no one at Milan we've missed out on. The Granny Rule isn't much help either, the Faroese haven't been huge at emigration."
Northern Ireland drew their first meeting with the minnows 19 years ago, yet there's no doubt that the gap between the countries have widened in recent years as Worthington's men have quite spectacularly overachieved. There are now 93 places between them in the world rankings.
The visitors are [1.38] favourites this afternoon and, given that Faroe Islands have failed to score in three of their last four home qualifiers, they should manage a clean sheet too at [1.83].
It's worth noting that Northern Ireland only stuck three past the significantly inferior San Marino when they went there in World Cup qualifying, so with pride at stake for Kerr, things could be even tighter here and under 2.5 goals may be a sound bet at [1.96], while 2-0 to the travelling side is [6.4].
Faroe Islands v Northern Ireland
Kick-off: 4pm
Live on Sky Sports 1
Fancy the Faroe Islands to stun the high-flyers? They're [10.5] to triumph...
Published: 12 Oct 2010
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