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Cyprus need to bounce back
Cyprus lost their opening League C Group 2 fixture at home to Kosovo. Nikos Kostenoglou's men finished bottom of their group in this competition last season, but managed to avoid relegation by beating Estonia in a Play-off.
Their World Cup Qualifying campaign hardly set the world on fire either, as they lost seven of their 10 fixtures in a group that contained the likes of Malta and Slovenia.
Kostenoglou has been in charge since February 2021, and his current record is two wins, three draws and 10 defeats from 15 matches. The one recent highlight was a 2-0 victory over Estonia in March.
Baraclough under pressure?
Northern Ireland were also beaten in their opening Nations League game, as they lost 0-1 at Windsor Park in a scrappy affair against Greece.
Despite the visitors being the favourites for that game, it must be classed as a disappointing result for Ian Baraclough and his players.
That result took the team's wait for a first win in this competition to 11, with nine of their outings ending in defeat.
Niall McGinn could well be recalled to the starting XI, with Kyle Lafferty also another possible change after coming off the bench on Thursday.
Back the visitors to break their duck
There are no recent meetings to assess between these two nations, with the last head to head eight years ago.
The Irish are the favourites at around the 2.111/10 mark on the Betfair Exchange, and I suspect that there is just a hint of value in that price.
Baraclough's men performed with credit in their World Cup Qualifying campaign, and while they didn't land much of a blow against the Greeks, this is a big step-down in opposition.
Favouring the draw in Northern Ireland matches is often my usual choice, but at 3.39/4, it feels a bit short given the disparity in their recent respective results.
The hosts can be backed at 4.3100/30 to take the three points, but even the most negative of Northern Irishmen would think that's an unlikely outcome.
Another low-scoring affair
Under 2.5 Goals again leads the way in a Northern Ireland international, trading at around the 1.584/7 mark.
Given both sides' record of putting the ball in the net, it's not hard to see why that it's that short, and Over 2.5 is 2.568/5.
Since football returned from the pandemic-enforced break, Cyprus have played 23 times and failed to score in 16 of them.
The visitors, meanwhile, have lost their last two by a 1-0 scoreline, and 16 of their 23 since the break have seen Under 2.5 backers collect.
Again, and as I wrote in my Thursday preview, I am not going to tip a 1.584/7 shot as a single, but I would include it as part of a Bet Builder.
Bet Builder
My Bet Builder for this fixture is another treble, that is built around arguments that I have already laid out above.
It is Northern Ireland to Win, Under 2.5 Goals, and No to a Goal scored in both halves. That comes in at over 3/1 on the Betfair Sportsbook.
Recommended bets
2021/22 P/L (1pt each bet)
Wagered: 54pts
Returned: 41.01pts
P/L: -12.99pts