Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Group C competitions of the UEFA 2018 World Cup qualifying tournament continues with a game between contending squad Northern Ireland (1-1-1, 4 points) and surprise team Azerbaijan (2-0-1, 7 points) at the Windsor Park in Belfast on Nov. 11, Friday.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 7:45 p.m. UTC±0). It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
Northern Ireland, currently ranked 36th in the world by FIFA, has been winless in two of their first three games in the qualifiers after drawing with the Czech Republic in their tournament-opener then winning over San Marino in the second matchday.
The team is coming off a disappointing 0-2 loss to group-favorite Germany on the road at the Niedersachsenstadion in Hanover during the previous round, as per the Mirror.
Wolfsburg forward Julian Draxler netted the opening goal for the hosts in the 13th minute before Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira made it a 2-0 count four minutes later.
Head coach Michael O'Neill's squad was not able to come up with a goal against Die Nationalelf after unleashing four goals against San Marino in their previous game.
Germany could have won by a bigger margin, but the Green and White Army's defense held on of a more respectable scoreline.
Meanwhile, FIFA world no. 88 Azerbaijan has been the group's dark horse so far as the team remained undefeated after three rounds of matches.
Azerbaijan was able to hold the 40th-ranked Czech Republic to a goalless tie in the previous matchday on the road at the Municipal Stadium in Ostrava, ESPN reported.
It snapped the two-game winning run of head coach Robert Prosinečki's team but they still gained a point in the overall standings with the draw.
The scoreless draw also kept the Czech Republic from scoring their first goal in the tournament while the Milli already netted two goals so far.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 2-0 romp for Northern Ireland to hand Azerbaijan its first loss in the qualifiers.
Northern Ireland starting lineup (5-4-1 formation): McGovern; Hodson, Hughes, McAuley, J. Evans, Ferguson; C. Evans, Norwood, Davis, Ward; Magennis
Azerbaijan starting lineup (4-1-4-1 formation): Aghayev; Mirzabekov, Medvedev, Guseynov, Dashdemirov; Garayev; Alasgarov, Amirguliyev, Nazarov, Qurbanov; Sheydayev
