H2H: Northern Ireland vs Slovakia – Prediction (Euro - Qualification

H2H: Northern Ireland v Slovakia – Comparison.

Liam Boyce (NIR) and Ján Greguš (SLK) scored their respective sides’ final penalties in the previous ECQ round’s shootouts. The latter man’s only prior competitive goal proved decisive. Going back to 1995, less than half (41.86%) of the previous 43 individual ECQ qualification playoff legs undertaken have seen both teams score.

Northern Ireland Insights.

Northern Ireland’s first-ever penalty shootout win in the previous qualification round glossed over what is still a current nine-game winless run in all competitions (D3, L6). The last three of those losses came against fellow opposition currently in League B of the UEFA Nations League (UNL), with N. Ireland conceding 1.0 second-half goals per match on average. Victory here will ensure that N. Ireland reach successive major tournaments for the first time ever. They have lost just once in their last nine European Championship qualification (ECQ) home games (W5, D3, L1), with a record of W1, D2 from the three games vs opposition currently in UNL League B. The hosts kept a first-half clean sheet in each of that trio.

Slovakia Insights.

History also beckons for Slovakia, with a victory sealing the nation’s first appearance at consecutive European Championships since gaining independence in 1992. They too negotiated a penalty shootout in their previous ECQ fixture (D 0-0), and are winless in five (D2, L3), losing the second half by an average margin of 2.0 goals across the three defeats. Slovakia’s last ECQ away match against current UNL League B opposition yielded a 2-1 win, giving them a 50% win rate from their last four ECQ away games against such opponents (W2, D1, L1). Every game won/lost in that sequence saw the victor win the first half 1-0, as did Slovakia’s 2-0 win on their only prior competitive visit to Windsor Park.