Looking at the match-up at Windsor Park tonight between Northern Ireland and Italy, one thing’s for sure: the home side truly will need the luck of the Irish if they wish to pull off what would be a shock win against the visitors. Luckily for Northern Ireland fans, however, their team are no strangers to shock wins during qualifying campaigns for major tournaments and there seems to be a fair bit of confidence doing the rounds in the Northern Ireland camp ahead of tonight’s test.
Tonight’s opponents aren’t the same prospect as they were just a few years ago. They endured a humiliating World Cup campaign this summer, like so many of Europe’s elite teams, and will want to make no mistakes in qualifying sooner rather than later for the Euro 2012 tournament. Italy traditionally set out their stall in international games to keep it tight at the back whilst attempting to nick the odd decisive goal at the other end. This strategy could play into Northern Ireland’s hands if they can hit the Italians on the break.
Northern Ireland have that one quality which no amount of star players or world class managers can bring and that’s spirit. You’ll never see a Northern Ireland team go out and not give their best for the full duration of a game, even if they’re in a losing position from which they probably can’t recover. With some of the Italian players well past their best in terms of class and form and the pressure solely on them ahead of tonight’s game since they are such overwhelming favourites, it could be wise to side with the luck of the Irish proving decisive later today.
If you do decide to go with that betting strategy, you could also back the Irish to keep a clean sheet (if you’re unsure how to gamble, the Betfair Education resources are always informative), since, if they can take an early lead, they have a number of defensive players with Premier League experience at their disposal capable of keeping the Italians, who are anything but attack-minded, quiet.
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