On Thursday night, Northern Ireland host Estonia at Windsor Park, with the home side desperate to kick-off their campaign with a win.
After years of punching above their weight, Northern Ireland have now hit a sticky run of form under the highly-rated Michael O’Neill. A 2-1 home defeat by Austria last time out means that Northern Ireland have now won just once in eight games. To make matters worse they have suffered five defeats in their last seven outings.
Their recent international matches have been relatively low scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in three of their last four games. The fact that the home side has scored just once in those four outings has been a big factor in the low scoring matches.
O’Neill’s team has a mixed recent home record. However, a record of two wins and four defeats from their last six home games is not a great one. Their recent matches on home soil have at least been high scoring, with over 2.5 goals scored in five of their last six games.
Estonia have never qualified for a major international tournament. Although the visitors have been hard to beat of late, they have won just twice in their last ten international outings, so it does not look like Estonia will make history in the Euro 2020 qualifier.
Their recent international matches have been low scoring, with under 2.5 goals scored in three of their last four outings.
They are unbeaten in three away games, having recorded two wins and a draw. However, the visitors have also won just two of their last ten away games. Estonia’s recent away matches have been low scoring, with 11 of their last 12 away matches producing under 2.5 goals.
Forebet predicts that Northern Ireland will record a victory in a low scoring game to start their Euro 2020 campaign on a positive note.