Nations League Tips: Back Greece To Win With A Clean Sheet in Belfast
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Northern Ireland begin their Nations League campaign against Greece on Thursday and Ian Baraclough's side will be desperate to address their lacklustre home form.
Betting sites make the visitors 7/5 favourites for an away win and it’s easy to see why when you consider Northern Ireland’s recent record of just one win in their last 12 at Windsor Park.
Greece have earned away draws with Spain and Belgium of late, strengthening the case for backing Gus Poyet’s men, although they did suffer a surprise defeat in Montenegro last time out.
Northern Ireland’s biggest problem has been finding a route to goal, but the return of Kyle Lafferty to the squad could address that problem – he’s 12/5 to score anytime with Ladbrokes and 5/1 to notch first if he’s handed a start.
The 34-year-old had been left out of Baraclough's last three squads though, so maybe expecting him to be thrown straight back into the starting XI is a bit premature.
That said, he is arguably the most in-form striker in the squad, having hit a rich run of form for Kilmarnock with eight goals in 13 starts as they won the Scottish Championship.
The odds are a fair reflection of Northern Ireland’s woes in front of goal though – they’re 27/20 not to score, and 1/4 to score no more than once in the over/under betting.
As such, we see great value in Ladbrokes’ odds of 12/5 for Greece to win without conceding, which is also available on several other football betting sites.
New Blood In Squad
Perhaps the new faces in Baraclough's squad can help stop the rot, though, with nine squad regulars missing for the entire international break.
That has afforded opportunities to the likes of Conor McMenamin, who hit 22 goals in 42 games for Glentoran in the season just finished.
A fresh injection up front could be just what Northern Ireland need in order to rediscover their scoring threat, with McMenamin given odds of 7/2 to score anytime or an intriguing 40/1 to score last should he get his opportunity from the bench.
McMenamin is one of just two players called up from the Danske Bank Premiership – the other being 17-year-old goalkeeper Josh Clarke of Glenavon – but with the league going from strength to strength it could be more common in the near future.
NI Domestic Football On The Up
The inclusion of 26-year-old McMenamin in the squad is a sign of full-time football in the Irish Premiership bearing fruit.
He is not the first player to be called up from Northern Ireland’s top tier, but he almost certainly won’t be the last and there’s a genuine feeling he has the confidence and form to make an impact over the current international break.
With homegrown talent on the up, the Irish Premiership is becoming a more attractive product for investors, as is the case with Crusaders, who are the subject of interest from a consortium hoping to buy a majority stake in the club.
The consortium – Irama Sports – includes Liverpool legend and Gambling.com columnist Ian Rush, who is excited to be involved in a deal which could see a reported £2.5million invested in the Crues.
“It’s not 100% through yet, but it should go ahead,” Rush told Gambling.com. “It will be nice to get involved with Crusaders to try and help them, which is what it’s all about.
“I’ve had a good chat with Barry Hunter, who’s chief scout at Liverpool. He used to play for Crusaders and has assured me it’s a very good club.
“They won the Irish Cup final a few weeks ago so they’re already in good shape on the field, but we want to help them with the financial side of things off the pitch.
“The people there are doing a great job from a football perspective, so it’s not our intention to interfere with that, we’ll be more focussed on helping the appeal of the club to the local community.
“I’m talking about things like facilities that can be used by the public and also the players to try and improve themselves. We’ll be there to try and help the club grow in any way we can.”
Should the investment get over the line, Crusaders would transition from a wholly fan-owned club run by its season ticket holders to a shareholder model, but fans would retain an element of control.
Rush is yet to see the Irish Cup winners in action but, confident the deal will go through, he plans to visit Seaview for a match next season.
“I’ve been to Seaview but I haven’t taken in a game yet. I had a business meeting there a few months ago and the people behind the club seem very nice, very genuine.
“I was invited to the cup final but wasn’t able to get over unfortunately, but hopefully next season there’ll be more opportunities, I’ll definitely be over a few times.”
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