Northern Ireland vs Bulgaria prediction: EUROPE: UEFA Nations League – League C betting tips on match 2024-10-14 18:45.
[p]With no H2H victory since May 1979 (D1, L5), and scoring just once in the last five H2Hs, Northern Ireland will be looking to correct 45 years of history when they take on Bulgaria at Windsor Park on Tuesday evening. The Green and White Army are at least no pushovers in Belfast where they will be targeting their third home victory in a row after successive 2-0 wins over Denmark and Luxembourg.[/p]
[p]The hosts come into this game only one point behind the top two teams in UEFA Nations League (UNL) Group C3 and registered their fourth point of the campaign with a 0-0 draw against table-toppers Belarus on Saturday evening. That means their promotion aspirations are very much alive as they bid to get back to League B for the first time since 2020/21, and Northern Ireland should be buoyed by the fact their only two wins in UNL history came across their last two home games in the competition![/p]
[p]Bulgaria sit in second place ahead of this fixture and are yet to concede a goal across their three games. That shouldnât be a great shock as their seven matches in 2024 (W2, D5) have seen the Lions keep five clean sheets and concede only two goals, although at the same time they failed to score more than once in any of those games![/p]
[p]They failed to score at all in a draw against bottom of the group Luxembourg at home on Saturday night and turning draws into wins seems to be the main challenge for Ilian Ilievâs team. If they can avoid defeat in Belfast then they will have been unbeaten for over 12 months by the time they visit Luxembourg next month, and they know stretching that record with a win here will all-but secure them a top-two finish.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Dion Charles already has five goals in nine league games for Bolton this season and Northern Ireland will hope he can replicate that form on the international stage – he scored the last goal in 2-0 wins on both of his international scoring appearances. Bulgaria âkeeper Dimitar Mitov will be out to thwart him here and he hasnât conceded across his last four international appearances (W2, D2).[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Northern Ireland have not conceded a second-half goal at home in any of their last four matches.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Tom Penn[/i][/p]