Northern Ireland vs Switzerland – 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifier – Preview

Posted on November 9, 2017 by Sreya

Northern Ireland vs Switzerland – Northern Ireland hosts Switzerland at the National Stadium, Belfast on 9th November, Thursday in the first leg of their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Northern Ireland finished second in Group C behind a prolific Germany team while Switzerland came a close second behind Portugal in Group B, on goal difference only.

Michael O’ Neill has been a terrific influence for Northern Ireland but they come into the knock-outs on the back of two consecutive defeats. Switzerland, on the other hand, will be hopeful of their chances after missing out on direct qualification by a mere whisker.

Team News

Northern Ireland Possible Starting Lineup: Michael McGovern, Conor McLaughlin, Gareth McAuley, Jonny Evans, Chris Brunt, Steven Davis, Corry Evans, Josh Magennis, Oliver Norwood, Stuart Dallas, Conor Washington.

Switzerland Possible Starting Lineup: Yann Sommer, Stephan Lichsteiner, Fabian Schar, Manuel Akanji, Ricardo Rodriguez, Granit Xhaka, Remo Freuler, Xherdan Shaquiri, Blerim Djemaili, Admir Mehmedi, Haris Seferovic.

“The weight of the country is on our shoulders but we’ve proved before we can carry that weight. We have full confidence that we can find a way of winning these games.

We didn’t realize the magnitude of [qualifying for] France until we were here about to go and social media-wise and media-wise, it was just everywhere. What it did for the country, not just ourselves was basically uniting people for about a month. It was absolutely massive.”

– Josh Magennis, Northern Ireland.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Northern Ireland vs Switzerland H2H Stats, the four previous matches between these two nations resulted in two wins for Northern Ireland, one win for Switzerland and one draw.

Switzerland have won 10 of their last 11 matches and kept seven clean sheets in those eleven games. it should be a closely contested affair with a 2-1 win for Northern Ireland being the most probable outcome.