Northern Ireland v Israel: Defences to freeze out opposition attacks

 

Jaymes Monte looks at Northern Ireland's game with Israel as freezing temperatures continue to put the game in jeopardy...

 

Northern Ireland v Israel

Tuesday 19:30, Live on Sky Sports 3

 

Following a battle with the weather that ultimately postponed Northern Ireland's match with Russia at the weekend Michael O'Neill is still seeking his first ever win  as Norn Iron boss. Israel, meanwhile, are buoyed by an unexpected 3-3 draw with Portugal on Friday, but must also be slightly disappointed having led 3-1 with 20  minutes to go.

 

Freezing conditions are expected to continue through until Tuesday evening at least, with the home side especially eager to see the game go ahead and avoid adding to  an already problematic backlog of fixtures.

 

Team News

 

Kyle Lafferty and Chris Baird remain unavailable for the home side, with suspensions from Friday's twice-postponed game being carried over to this one. Corry Evans has  been called up to the squad as cover after passing a fitness test following a quad injury.

 

The visitors will sorely miss striker Tomer Hemed who picked up a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards following his caution in the match against Portugal.  The Mallorca striker is the second top goalscorer in European qualifying after netting his sixth of the campaign on Friday. Israeli media are speculating that Hemed  will be replaced in the side by a midfielder, possibly Yossi Benayoun or Lior Rafaelov, which could be significant when considering where to place our money here.

 

Match Odds - N Ireland 3.3 v Israel 2.5; The Draw 3.3

 

Winless from their four qualifying games to date, and without a victory under manager Michael O'Neill, it's difficult to make a case for backing the hosts. They can,  however, be a difficult team to beat, as was proven by their 1-1 draw in Portugal earlier in the campaign.

 

There's also an argument to say that the freezing conditions won't favour Israel, but sub zero temperatures are neither commonplace for the Irish, so it's not a belief  that I subscribe to.

 

Although they did beat Luxembourg 6-0 in their most recent away fixture, Eli Gutman's side also drew 1-1 with Azerbaijan in the game before that. The draw, at odds of  3.3 looks the best bet in the Match Odds market here, especially when considering Hemed's absence.

 

Over/Under 2.5 goals

 

Without Hemed in the Israel side there's also a much stronger case to be made for backing Under 2.5 goals. Although the Israelis have now scored 13 goals in World Cup  qualification, just under half of them (6) have come from their main man.

 

Norn Iron, meanwhile, have scored only three goals in their last five, including fixtures at home to Luxembourg and Azerbaijan where they only managed to net once in  each. They also don't concede many, however, with only five goals being scored against in the last five fixtures. Under 2.5 goals is short enough at 1.68, but even at that price it's worth a bet.

 

Correct Score

 

Three of Northern Ireland's four World Cup qualifiers have finished 1-1, while they've only scored more than once in a match on a single occasion in their last 12  matches (friendlies and qualifiers). As mentioned above Israel also drew 1-1 with Azerbaijan in one of their two away qualifiers to date. At odds of 7.0 a goal apiece looks as good a place as any to start here.

 

Recommended Bets:

Back Under 2.5 goals @ 1.68

Back 1-1 Correct Score @ 7.0

 

Bet HERE

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