Wales v Northern Ireland: Three stats and three bets for Tuesday's friendly

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Tuesday 19:45, live on various BBC platforms

It's a game that neither Wales or Northern Ireland want to be involved in following Thursday's heartbreaking World Cup play-off defeats, but it's a game that at least offers up a chance for either team to instantly get back to winning ways, and whenever you have a Home Nations clash, it can never be called a 'friendly'.

It's a tough game to predict with both managers likely to shuffle their starting XIs, so if you're looking for an early wager how about letting the stats point us in the right direction. Below we have three stats-related bets - two for Wales, one for Northern Ireland - ahead of Tuesday' clash.

Wales-related bets

Bet #1 - Back a home win to nil

The Stat:

Wales are unbeaten in each of their last nine meetings with Northern Ireland in all competitions (W5 D4), since a 1-0 loss at Ninian Park in May 1980.

Northern Ireland have won just one of their last 10 away games in all competitions (D2 L7), beating Luxembourg 3-1 in September 2025. Northern Ireland could lose four in a row on the road for the first time since November 2023, while they could lose three in a row without scoring for the first time since October 2018.

The Bet:

Bet #2- Back James to make it three in a row

The Stat:

Dan James has scored in back-to-back international appearances for the very first time, netting against North Macedonia and Bosnia. This century, only four players have scored in three consecutive outings for the Dragons: Gareth Bale (3 times), Harry Wilson (2 times), John Hartson and Simon Davies.  

The Bet:

Northern Ireland-related bet

Bet #3 - Back the visitors to get morale-boosting win

The Stat:

Northern Ireland won their most recent game against a fellow home nation (England, Scotland, Wales), beating Scotland 1-0 in a March 2024 friendly.

Wales have won only one of their last 10 friendly matches (D5 L4), scoring in only two of those: 1-1 vs Czech Republic in March 2022 and 4-0 vs Gibraltar in October 2023.

The Bet:

Now read more tips for the friendlies and World Cup Qualifiers