Northern Ireland vs Iceland predictions: Draw on the cards at Windsor Park
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- Northern Ireland are unbeaten in their last five home matches
- Iceland have avoided defeat to England, Wales and Scotland in the last year
- Recommended Bet: Draw
Northern Ireland conclude this international window with a friendly against Iceland at Windsor Park on Tuesday evening.
It has been a solid season for Michael O'Neill's young squad, who won promotion to League B in the Nations League.
However, they suffered their second straight away defeat to a Scandinavian nation when they lost 2-1 to Denmark in a Copenhagen friendly last week.
They will face a resurgent Iceland side that halted a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Scotland at Hampden Park on Friday night.
Our Boys will be looking to continue a recent run of success against British teams after a friendly victory against England at Wembley last summer and a 2-2 Nations League draw with Wales in October.
Team news
O'Neill made seven changes to the side that lost 5-1 to Sweden in March, with Trai Hume, Conor Bradley and Dan Ballard all recalled to the line-up in Copenhagen.
Brodie Spencer and Terry Devlin could replace Bradley and Justin Devenny out wide, with George Saville and Paul Smyth also earning recalls.
Ross County striker Ronan Hale will be hoping for a chance to make his international debut at some stage.
As for Iceland, centre-back Sverrir Ingi Ingason came off with a sore hip against Scotland but remains on course to be available after training fully.
Arnar Gunnlaugsson, who is without injured captain Orri Oskarsson, is likely to stick with the majority of the team that impressed at Hampden Park on Friday.
The stats
It has been six years since Iceland won two games within the same international window.
This will be the seventh meeting between the two nations, with Iceland having won four and Northern Ireland two of the previous clashes.
Iceland won 3-0 on their last visit to Belfast in a Euro 2008 qualifier in 2006.
Northern Ireland are winless in each of their last four matches (D2 L2), their longest run since going five without victory between March and September 2023.
However, the Green and White Army are unbeaten in their last five matches at Windsor Park.
Prediction
Northern Ireland’s proud home record should stand up to the test in Tuesday’s game, with the home side likely to be sharper for their outing in Denmark than the Scots were on Friday.
Iceland defended well and took their chances to stun a subdued Hampden Park, however, the atmosphere is usually very good at Windsor Park and it can provide the platform for another energetic display from O’Neill’s youthful side.
Our Boys are still finding their feet under Gunnlaugsson and it may take more time to fully adapt to his style of play, which is very different to that of his predecessor.
The early signs were good in Glasgow, but they caught Scotland on a bad day and there will be no element of surprise for them in Belfast.
The teams look evenly matched on paper with a draw appearing to be the most likely result.
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