San Marino v Northern Ireland Betting Tips [23 March 2023]
Football - Euro
23 March 2023 15:45
The match
Northern Ireland’s dreams of qualifying for their first major tournament since 2016 could get to a great start. They begin their Group H engagements of the 2024 European Championship qualifiers against the lowly San Marino on Thursday at the San Marino Stadium in Serravalle. San Marino are the lowest populated member of UEFA and have been traditional laggards in this competition. Forget qualifying for a major tournament, they have never won a match in the European qualifiers. They have lost 75 of their previous 76 European qualifiers with the other being a draw. While that takes a San Marino win out of the equation, there is a big chance of the loss seeing them fail to score. The hosts have lost 14 of their last 16 European qualifiers without scoring and it won’t be a major surprise if that’s repeated here.
Northern Ireland will be happy to continue that poor record of their hosts, seeing as they seek a reboot. After failing at the last round of the 2020 European qualifying, the visitors have a new manager in Michael O’Neill who’s looking to make his second stint a successful one. Northern Ireland have won all their four previous matches against San Marino, each time scoring at least three goals and never conceding a goal. Any result other than that would be a massive blow to their qualification hopes as the group has the likes of Denmark, Finland and Slovenia apart from Kazakhstan vying to finish in the top-two spots.
Key Statistics
- San Marino have lost their last 16 Euro qualifiers, 14 of which have come without scoring
- San Marino have lost 14 of their last 16 Euro qualifiers played at home, without scoring a goal
- San Marino have lost 75 of their last 76 Euro qualifiers, drawing the other
- Northern Ireland won their four matches against San Marino with a clean sheet
The bet of our experts
San Marino have been the punchbags of European qualifiers regularly losing matches without scoring goals. They have lost 75 of their previous 76 European qualifiers, drawing the other, while conceding nearly 4.5 goals per game on an average. Northern Ireland will be looking to make the most of it as they aim to start their campaign on a high. Our prediction for San Marino vs Northern Ireland is an away win with a clean sheet.
