UEFA Nations League Northern Ireland vs Bosnia: Stop Dzeko and Prosper

Northern Ireland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina

Northern Ireland welcome Bosnia and Herzegovina to Windsor Park this weekend when the Irish fans have the chance to see one of Europe’s most potent strikers, whether they want to or not!

Edin Dzeko is likely to line up for Bosnia, and he has a scoring record to give the very best defenders a sleepless night. The 6’4″ forward was the first to score 50 goals in three of the top European leagues, having done it for Wolfsburg, Manchester City and Roma.

So stop him on Saturday and Northern Ireland has a chance.

UEFA Nations League Northern Ireland vs Bosnia is a great way for SBOBET football fans to take a look at League B, as Europe’s new tournament gets into its stride. Group 3 in League B is a tough one, with a hard to beat Austria side in there, West Ham’s talented striker Marco Arnautovic and all.

The Northern Ireland vs Bosnia betting tips will be torn because this is such a close match to call: Bosnia have the better players, but home advantage with a bouncing Windsor Park is a huge factor.

Talking Points

Though they failed to qualify for Russia 2018, Bosnia have plenty of talent: the £89m Manchester City considered paying for Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic probably outweighs the total value of the Northern Ireland squad put together!

His 79 caps and glittering career for Lyon, Roma and Juventus elevate Pjanic to be one the best midfielders in Europe. Staying with the Bianconeri, he is very much at home with world-class talent including Cristiano Ronaldo, Blaise Matuidi and Leonardo Bonucci alongside him.

Northern Ireland vs Bosnia Betting Tips: Edin Dzeko to open the scoring at Windsor Park — Northern Ireland contend with Bosnia’s Edin Dzeko in their UEFA Nations League match on Saturday

The complete midfielder, Ireland must find a way to stop him pulling the strings and putting chances on a plate for Dzeko.

The Bosnian FA has brought in former Barcelona and Real Madrid star Robert Prosinecki after missing out on qualification for Russia 2018, and with his experience of managing Croatia, he could be the man to move Bosnia forward. He has the biggest goal threat on the pitch in Edin Dzeko who will be champing at the bit to make an impact on the world stage again.

The task of keeping the big man out could fall to young Leeds United keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, English-born but committed his future to Northern Ireland, which you can understand bearing in mind the number of high-quality young stoppers in the current England squad. He made his debut in a 0-0 draw with Panama in May and could get the nod at the weekend.

Whoever’s between the sticks will need plenty of protection, and much of that task will fall on the shoulders of Leicester City’s experienced centre-half Jonny Evans. Michael O’Neill’s sides are always well organised and Evans’s role will be vital, particularly as experienced utility man Chris Brunt has announced his retirement from International football.

At the other end of the pitch, Northern Ireland will be hard-pressed to break down the Bosnians, but O‘Neill has recalled Wigan striker Will Grigg for the first time since 2016 in the hope he can replicate his club form on the international stage.

History

Northern Ireland had a really difficult task to qualify for Russia 2018; they found themselves in a difficult qualifying group with 2014 World Champions Germany and understandably fell short, though not without a storm of despair in the playoffs.

A controversial penalty decision saw them lose to Switzerland and so incensed was defender Evans, he branded it a worse call than Thierry Henry’s handball goal assist against Ireland in 2010.

Bosnia, too, failed to qualify for the World Cup 2018, having made it to Brazil in 2014.

Recent form favours the visitors, unbeaten in four, while Northern Ireland won one in seven and arrive on the back of a 3-0 defeat to Costa Rica.

But we don’t have any Northern Ireland vs Bosnia results to go on here as this is the first game between these two, so let’s have a think.

Betting Tip

	Northern Ireland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bosnia Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 1.86
	September 8, 21:00 (GMT+8)

The visitors are slight favourites at 2.61, with Northern Ireland at 2.89 and the draw 2.85. The big question is: can Ireland cope with the goal threat of Dzeko, backed up by the midfield prowess of Pjanic?

Roared on by the Green and White Army, they’ll give it one heck of a go, and a half-time stalemate at 1.80 could well be on.

We expect a tight affair, and the odds reflect that, with 0-1 goals at 1.99 and 2-3 goals at 1.92. Michael O’Neill’s side specialises in low-scoring games and kept four clean sheets at home in qualifying.

So we can surmise that 1-2 goals is likely; I can see a 0-1 or 1-1 result at 5.60 or 4.90.

Let’s just hope it’s not a 0-0!