Northern Ireland vs Guinea Prediction: 2/1 pick appeals in friendly bout

After both sides failed to qualify for this summer's World Cup, Northern Ireland and Guinea will lock horns at Estadio Municipal de La Linea de la Concepcion in Spain on Thursday evening (5pm BST, 6pm local, live on BBC iPlayer).

Guinea are 10 spots below Northern Ireland in the world rankings, and this is first time the pair have faced off. Read on for my Northern Ireland vs Guinea predictions, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Northern Ireland will be missing several key players here, including the likes of Conor Bradley, Paddy McNair, Eoin Toal, George Lyons and Brad Lyons.

Ethan Galbraith has been called up after recovering from a calf issue, while Michael O'Neill also included youngsters Braiden Graham, Kieran Morrison and Ceadach O'Neill in his squad.

Guinea will be without Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy, and the likes of Kaba Sory, Aliou Balde and Aboubacar Camara have also had to withdraw due to injury.

Northern Ireland vs Guinea Odds

Northern Ireland are EVENS to win, giving them an implied win probability of 50%, the draw is 2/1 and Guinea are 13/5.

Jamie Reid currently leads the anytime goalscorer market at 15/8, while it's 11/10 for both teams to find the back of the net.

Match Result - Draw @ 2/1

I always think friendlies are difficult to predict.

Northern Ireland's form in their World Cup qualification campaign was pretty decent. They missed out on a top-two finish behind Germany and Slovakia, but they secured a play-off place thanks to their Nations League exploits. Sadly, that ended in tears in the semi-finals against Italy. O'Neill's men have played one match since that disappointment in March - a 1-1 draw with Wales.

Guinea finished fourth in their qualification group, although they were the only side to take points off winners Algeria, so they clearly have something about them.

With both sides having one eye on their futures after World Cup qualification disappointment, both managers may opt to give some inexperienced players more exposure for their respective national teams, resulting in a draw.

Both Teams to Score - Yes @ 11/10

Both sides are susceptible to conceding goals, with O'Neill's side keeping just two clean sheets in their last eight outings, and Guinea recording just one shutout in their last six.

However, both sides have experience better fortunes at the other end of the pitch - Northern Ireland have only failed to score in three of their last 15 internationals, and Guinea have scored 12 times across their last eight matches.