Michael O’Neill’s men will hope to make it four wins from four against struggling Belarus
Northern Ireland will feel confident of maintaining their perfect start to their Euro 2020 Qualifying campaign when they travel to Belarus, who are marooned at the bottom of Group C without a point.
Michael O’Neill’s side have beaten Belarus already, by a 2-1 scoreline at home, as well as Estonia twice.
The goal the White Wings scored that night is the only one they have managed so far, losing 4-0 and 2-0 against Netherlands and Germany either side of that game.
| Game | Belarus vs Northern Ireland |
| Date | Tuesday, June 11 |
| Time | 7:45pm BST / 2:45pm ET |
In the United States (US), the game can be watched on ESPN3. It can be streamed via Univision Deportes En Vivo
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| ESPN3 | Univision Deportes En Vivo |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will be broadcast on Sky Sports Premier League and it can be streamed from Sky Go.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Premier League | Sky Go |
Igor Kriushenko has no major injury concerns and could keep faith with the same 11 players who were beaten 2-0 by Germany last time out.
Possible Belarus starting XI: Hutar; Shitov, Palyakow, Martynovich, Naumov, Valadzko; Gromyko, Mayewski, Drahun; Laptsew, Kavalyow
| Position | Northern Ireland squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | McGovern, Peacock-Farrell, Hazard |
| Defenders | Hughes, McAuley, J. Evans, Cathcart, McLaughlin, Lewis, Smith, Flanagan, Ballard |
| Midfielders | McNair, Davis, McGinn, C. Evans, Ferguson, Dallas, Saville, Jones, Whyte, Thompson, Sykes |
| Forwards | Lafferty, Magennis, Washington, Boyce, Smyth |
Conor Washington and Josh Magennis both scored after being introduced from the bench while Northern Ireland were trailing against Estonia last time out, with Jordan Jones setting up the latter, and all three could be rewarded with starts against Belarus.
Liam Boyce was hooked at half-time in that game after a poor showing up front and is likely to be dropped.
Possible Northern Ireland starting XI: Peacock-Farrell; Dallas, Cathcart, Evans, Lewis; McNair, Davis, Saville; Jones, Magennis, Washington
Northern Ireland are the favourites in this one with Bet365, priced at 13/8. Both a Belarus win and a draw are available at 21/10.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Northern Ireland could keep their 100% Euro 2020 Qualifying record intact and stay atop Group C with a win over rock-bottom Belarus at the Borisov Arena.
They lead both Germany and the Netherlands but have played a game more than their qualification rivals.
Michael O’Neill’s side have also been fortunate enough to avoid playing either of the two favourites for automatic qualification so far.
Late goals from substitutes Conor Washington and Josh Magennis saw them maintain their perfect start with a 2-1 win in Estonia on Saturday and the pair – along with fellow substitute Jones – will hope to start this one.
“It was a difficult game in Belfast [against Belarus],” O’Neill said.
“I thought we had a lot of control of the game and then we gave away a slightly unfortunate goal after we had gone ahead and whilst we always felt that we could win the game we had to go virtually until the last few minutes to do it.
“As Estonia showed the other night, Belarus will look at this as a game they can potentially take points from and with that in mind I think it will be an extremely difficult match.
“Mentally we’re in a good place because we won the last game, the mental tiredness is not the same, so that should be the key factor for us. We’re looking forward to the game and we’ve everything to gain by trying to go out and get another three points.”
The Green and White army have beaten Belarus on both previous occasions they have played them, scoring five goals via five different goalscorers.
Belarus, despite being bottom after three successive defeats from three qualification games, are still in with a shot of qualifying for Euro 2020, as their promotion from League D to League C in the Nations League has earned them a guaranteed playoff spot.
Northern Ireland are not so lucky, and the magnitude of taking maximum points from the first four games is not lost on O’Neill.
“A win [against Belarus] means that all of the next four games have huge significance,” O’Neill added.
“It really means that you will go into the last two games, game seven and eight, with a chance of qualification regardless of what happens in between and that’s the significance.”
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