Slovakia and Northern Ireland meet on Friday night, with the current group standings leaving this fixture finely poised to determine who will likely finish behind Germany in the race for qualification.
Slovakia are heading into this game as the marginal favourites ahead of Michael O'Neill's side, with the latter needing to beat the hosts, knowing Slovakia has a difficult trip to Germany on the final matchday. The reverse fixture between the two sides resulted in a 2-0 win for Northern Ireland; however, given how formidable Slovakia have been in their home fixtures, the visitors are likely to encounter a difficult task on their trip on Friday. Slovakia are unbeaten in their last seven home competitive matches, with wins against Luxembourg (2-0), Germany (2-0), Estonia (1-0) & Azerbaijan (2-0).
As for Northern Ireland, Michael O'Neill's side currently has six points from four matches, having conceded five goals and scored six. Their only away win in recent fixtures took place against Luxembourg (1-3), meaning the Green and White Army have only won once away from home in their previous eight matches.
With this fixture being a must-win for both sides and given Slovakia's home form, we are leaning towards a narrow win here for the hosts. Games involving Slovakia tend to be low-scoring affairs, with less than 2.5 goals landing in each of their previous five matches, so a 1-0 scoreline could be on the cards here.
Slovakia 1-0 Northern Ireland.
