Northern Ireland will be hoping to end their four-match losing streak when they travel to the Astana Stadium to meet Kazakhstan in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Sunday afternoon. Northern Ireland, currently fifth in Group H, are six points behind fourth-placed Kazakhstan, who are just one point off the top two.
Kazakhstan=s 0-1 defeat to Finland in their last match still leaves them at the top of Group H despite winning four of their five matches, although Kazakhstan head coach Magomed Adeev's side are still in with a chance of securing an automatic qualification place.
In their opening qualifier, against Slovenia, Kazakhstan lost 1-2, however they rallied from 2-0 down in their next match to beat them 3-2 thanks to last-minute goals from Bakhtiyar Zainutdinov, Ashat Tagibelgen and Abat Ainbetov, who offset Rasmus Hoylund's first-half double.
After a comfortable 3-0 win over San Marino, Kazakhstan beat Northern Ireland 1-0 in their first meeting in June, limiting the hosts to just one shot on target while scoring in the 88th minute of the match through Ein Betov.
As a result, Adeev's side have won three of their five qualifiers so far, scoring eight goals, meaning Kazakhstan have a good chance of making their debut at next year's European Championships in Germany.
It's worth noting that Kazakhstan won the group stage of the Europa League in 2022-23, losing just one of their six matches, so they'll be confident of continuing their impressive run against the troubled Green and Whites.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland lost 2-4 to Slovenia in Thursday's match, and although they had 13 shots on goal in Ljubljana and controlled much of the game, it meant that Michael O'Neill's side took just three points out of a possible 15.
Panathinu striker Andraz Sporla scored twice in the game, RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko extended the lead to 3-1 just before half-time, and Manchester United's Jonny Evans scored a goal but still lost the game.
Northern Ireland made a good start to their promotion campaign, winning comfortably 2-0 against San Marino, but they have since lost four consecutive games, 1-0 to Finland, Denmark and Kazakhstan, before finally being thrashed in Thursday's game.
In the grand scheme of things, Northern Ireland have won just two of their previous 12 games in all competitions, suffering eight defeats in that time, and they have failed to score in 50% of those games.
Northern Ireland finished the Euro 2020 qualifying campaign with four wins, two draws and four defeats to finish 13 points behind the Netherlands and Germany, but O'Neill's side have already lost four of their Euro 2024 qualifiers, having played just five matches.
Considering the above match scenario and the form of both the teams, it is predicted that Kazakhstan will beat Northern Ireland 2-1 in this match. Despite Northern Ireland's current poor form, Kazakhstan's overall strength and recent good form gives them the edge in this match. Kazakhstan are expected to win this match to improve their chances of advancing.
