Northern Ireland vs Italy: The Italians to win comfortably

The Northern Ireland side has taken points from the Italians just once in their last seven head-to-head encounters. Can the Green & White Army improve their record now? We predict that the Italians will be stronger again!

Northern Ireland have reached the final of major international tournaments only once in the 21st century. At UEFA EURO 2016, it was harder not to qualify than it was to be selected, as the continental forum was the first contested by 24 national teams. Alas, after that, the results of the Green and White Army declined. Ian Baraclough’s side will not appear at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar either, as they are currently sitting just third in Group C, with not even a mathematical chance of progressing up the standings. They’ve only won once in the last four rounds, which was against Lithuania 1-0.

The Italian national team is having a glorious time. Roberto Mancini’s side was European champions in the summer and is now one step away from qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 2014. Indeed, after their Euro 2020 triumph, the Blues have problems with results. They have only won once in their four qualifying games, which was against Lithuania 5-0, with the other three games entirely drawn. Thankfully, the Italians made a comfortable run in the first half of qualifying, so they now remain at the top of Group C.

Italy are Group C leaders in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying. All they need to do is not let an embarrassing defeat come their way against Northern Ireland, which have already lost their chances of qualifying for the World Cup. Of course, the Azzurri’s experience and skill should help them meet that challenge without too much trouble, and besides, the Green and White Army are not in the best shape to pull off a sensation at the moment. Moreover, in their last seven matches, the Italians have won six times and drawn once. As a result, a bet on the Italian team’s victory with a handicap (-1.5) at odds of around 1.74 is inevitable.

With equal points, the goal difference is the first extra indicator to form the final standings. In Group C, the Italians and Swiss have 15 points each, with the Azzurri having a goal difference of +11 and the Red and Whites having a goal difference of +9, but they will play in parallel with Bulgaria at home, where they could throw in a haul of goals. Of course, this forces Roberto Mancini’s charges to keep up their attacking efforts, trying to score more goals. Given this, the best option for the prediction seems to be Individual Total 2 Over 2.5 goals for 2.20.

The scary thing is that Italy’s top scorer out of the November call-ups is Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who registered two goals in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Of course, there is a big question for the attack, where is their scoring performance. In the final match of qualification, the focus may be on Juventus forward Federico Chiesa. He is not an incredible goalscorer but can score the most important goals, as his games in the Champions League proved. At Euro 2020, without his scoring touch, there probably would not be an Italian championship. You can bet on the 24-year-old’s goal for 2.62.