H2H: Germany vs. Northern Ireland – Prediction (EURO Qualification

Preview and Teams Comparison.

Germany welcome Northern Ireland after confirming their place at Euro 2020 last outing. That 4-0 win over Belarus marked their seventh European Championship qualifier (ECQ) this campaign to see them keep a first-half cleansheet and their fifth to win the first half, while they’ve scored by the 15-minute mark in four games. Toni Kroos scored two goals for Germany in the last ECQ game. His last three ECQ goals came in the second half, two after the hour mark. The hosts have lost just one of their last 15 ECQ home games (W12, D2) with that sole loss coming this campaign against the higher-ranked Netherlands (2-4). The last time Germany lost against a nation currently ranked below them in the FIFA ranking was in October 2007 (0-3 against Czech Republic).

Stat attack: Nine of Germany’s last ten ECQ goals have come in the second half. Germany have scored at least two goals in every ECQ game this campaign, averaging 3.42 goals per match. Six of Northern Ireland’s last eight goals were scored in the last 16 minutes of games.
Northern Ireland are yet to score in the first 29 minutes in this ECQ.

Northern Ireland had a good start to this ECQ campaign with four wins, but they are now winless since (D1, L2). They are yet to win a first half and five of their seven ECQ games saw a goalless first half. Josh Magennis scored the last ECQ away goal for Northern Ireland. Two of his three ECQ goals this campaign came on the road, with all three being scored in the 75th minute or later. Two single-goal margin away ECQ success to lower-ranked nations means Northern Ireland have actually won five of their last eight ECQ away games (D1, L2), although they scored more than two goals in just one of those wins and kept a cleansheet in just two of the eight.