Slovakia vs Northern Ireland Prediction: Both teams to strike in crunch Group A clash

Northern Ireland must avoid defeat against Slovakia on Friday (19:45 GMT, BBC iPlayer) to prolong their chances of a top-two finish in Group A of Uefa World Cup qualifying. Their hosts at Kosicka futbalova arena, Slovakia, are currently second, tied on nine points with leaders Germany and three points ahead of Michael O'Neill's side, who they lost to 2-0 in last month's reverse fixture in Belfast.

Below are my Slovakia vs Northern Ireland predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds for this crunch clash in Kosice.

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Team News

Tomas Suslov (Hellas Verona) is a notable absentee for Slovakia, who are boosted by the return of Napoli midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, who missed both qualifiers last month.

Football Odds

Ali McCann (Preston North End) and the Charles brothers, Shea (Southampton) and Pierce (Sheffield Wednesday), are among those who miss out for Northern Ireland this month due to injury.

Meanwhile, Swansea City's Ethan Galbraith will serve a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Liverpool's Conor Bradley, however, is back from a ban of his own.

Slovakia vs Northern Ireland Odds

Slovakia have won both home qualifiers so far in Group A, beating both Germany and Luxembourg by a 2-0 scoreline. Friday's hosts are 21/20 to make it three out of three on home soil, implying a 48.8% probability of success, while Northern Ireland are 3/1, or a 25% chance, to do the double over the opponents.

The draw is priced at 11/5, both teams to score at 11/10, and over 2.5 total goals at 6/4.

Betfred are offering several Price Boosts on this game, including Slovakia To Score In Both Halves, as they did against Germany in September, at 3/1 (was 13/5).

Price Boosts - Conor Bradley (NIR) To Be Carded @ 7/4  2/1

Backing Bradley to be booked this season has proven a nice little earner, with the Liverpool right-back shown eight yellow cards in 17 appearances for club and country.

The 22-year-old has been cautioned twice for Northern Ireland, with his latest booking coming against Slovakia in October's reverse fixture in Belfast.

That yellow earned him a suspension for his nation's next game, which ended up being a 1-0 loss to Germany.

Today's Football Fixtures

Bradley managed to avoid a booking in his next five matches for Liverpool, but as predicted in my Manchester City vs Liverpool Stats-Based Bet Builder Tips last weekend, he picked up his eighth yellow of the season in a 3-0 defeat for the Reds at the Etihad Stadium.

The Northern Ireland star was cautioned against Slovakia last time out for a foul on Lukas Haraslin, who was taken out three times in that game, despite only coming on in the 63rd minute.

Haraslin, as well as Leo Sauer, who was fouled three times in each of Slovakia's first two qualifiers against Germany and Luxembourg, could present more problems for the Reds ace on Friday.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 6/5

This could be a straight shootout for second place in Group A, so expect both sides to be up for it on Friday.

Northern Ireland need to win, really, so they’ll be going all out for at least one goal, which should lead to an entertaining contest in Kosice.

O'Neill's side failed to score against Germany last time out, but they had found a goal in their previous 11 games, while Slovakia have only been denied from scoring once in this campaign, albeit against Northern Ireland in Belfast.

I’ll back both teams to score here at a slightly generous 6/5.