Scotland vs Northern Ireland prediction: WORLD: Friendly International betting tips on match 2024-03-25 19:45.
[p]Although only a friendly, this clash will carry an extra edge for both countries with local bragging rights on the line. Scotland host neighbours Northern Ireland looking to end what is their longest winless run since 2008 (D2, L4), with the latest defeat in that stretch coming away to the Netherlands on Friday, when they were thrashed 4-0 to take their tally to a worrying 18 goals conceded across that winless sequence. [/p]
[p]Steve Clarke’s men lost their last home game against a British rival (England, 3-1) back in September, then followed it up at Hampden Park with a 3-3 draw against Norway in November. But before then, they had won six straight matches in front of their own fans, including a 2-1 success against the Republic of Ireland, who were also the only nation to breach Scotland’s goal in that run. [/p]
[p]The mood in the Northern Ireland camp will have improved a little following their failure to qualify for Euro 2024, as they have since avoided defeat against Denmark (2-0) and Romania (1-1). Despite the close proximity of these two nations, they’ve only met three times since the turn of the century, and even when they have, Northern Ireland have struggled for success (D1, L2).[/p]
[p]But there’s a fresh feel to this Northern Ireland side, helped by manager Michael O’Neill selecting a youthful group. He named a starting XI with an average age of just 23.5 in Friday’s game away to Romania, so the players might be free of the shackles that have held previous squads back, and another positive result here would represent the first time since March 2022 that they have gone three international matches undefeated. [/p]
[p]Key Battle: Veteran Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon (41) was a shock selection by Clarke and is being tipped to add to his 74 caps here, with the last of those coming in November 2022 – he also kept a clean sheet in the last H2H back in March 2015 (1-0). Hoping to get the better of him might be Jamie Reid, who plays for League One Stevenage and scored against Romania last Friday on his Northern Ireland debut.[/p]
[p]Hot streak: Scotland have conceded before half-time in each of their last four internationals. [/p]