Northern Irish hopes rest on Leeds trainee
In the absence of the injured Kyle Lafferty and suspended David Healy, Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington is expected to turn to Oldham striker Warren Feeney - who started his career at Leeds United - for tonight's pivotal Euro 2012 qualifying Group C clash with Slovenia.
After Friday's 2-1 defeat in Serbia, the overachievers find themselves second bottom of the group, but they are only two points behind second-placed Slovenia having played a game fewer, meaning that a victory at Windsor Park this evening will thrust them right back into contention.
Injuries also rob them of captain Aaron Hughes and Steven Davis, so a strong display from Feeney is essential. The 30-year-old has scored just six times in 39 appearances for his country, though one of those goals was a winner in a 1-0 triumph against Slovenia just under two years ago.
Northern Ireland also beat the World Cup participants 1-0 in Maribor last September, so given that the visitors lost at home to Italy last time out, there is reason to believe that Worthington's side are capable of recording a third successive win against them at [3.2], while Feeney is [4.2] to net.
Slovenia are yet to lose on their travels in this campaign, which is why they are [2.6] favourites despite their hosts' head-to-head advantage, however Northern Ireland's remarkable run of one defeat in 11 qualifiers in Belfast lends itself to a flutter on a minor upset occurring.
Under 2.5 goals is widely anticipated at [1.52], and Irish successes in these kind of fixtures invariably come by a one-goal margin, so their supporters should view 1-0 as the score to back at [7.8]. Sceptics can find [8.0] on Slovenia winning 1-0, while the goalless draw is [7.4] and 1-1 is [7.2].
Northern Ireland v Slovenia
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Live on Sky Sports 1
Think Northern Ireland will be forced to settle for a point? The draw is [3.2]...
Published: 29 Mar 2011
Leave a comment