Bulgaria vs Northern Ireland

Bulgaria host Northern Ireland for this UEFA World Cup qualifying match at Nacionalen Stadion Vasil Levski in Sofia. Both teams have five points so far so technically both have a chance to place in the second place in the group hence having a chance to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 but the chances are very slim though as Switzerland in the second place have eleven points already. Italy lead the group with fourteen points and will very likely win it. Let's take a closer look..

Neither team is a big football country really - Bulgaria did have some success a few decades a ago but have been in decline in recent years, whereas N. Ireland never were a big football nation to begin with. Neither teams is also in particularly good form at the moment and I am expecting tight battle with probably only a few goals. By raw class I rate the visitors as slightly stronger but with the substantial home advantage Bulgaria are not big but still solid favorites with around 39% chance of winning. The draw, probably 0-0 or 1-1 are would not surprise me at all as both teams lack offensive quality and creativity but are capable of pretty solid defending against a mediocre opponent. In their most recent match Bulgaria lost to Lithuania away from home in pretty balanced match and the 3-1 for the hosts does not reflect the events on the pitch. Before this they comfortable crushed Georgia 4-1 at home but I must say the match was more balanced than the 4-1 final score would indicate. Bulgaria have suffered a few losses at home during the past year but overall they have a pretty good home record and their fans do support them even during difficult times. About a month ago Bulgaria defeated Lithuania 1-0 at home.

N. Ireland lost their most recent match against Switzerland 0-2 away from home and were totally dominated. The Swiss had some 70% ball possession and created some 25 scoring chances whereas the visitors had only a few. They score could easily have been 4-0! Whilst I of course recognize Switzerland are a very good team - they even beat France in EURO 2020 - still N. Ireland were pretty bad and unless they improve for this match they probably will not win. Before this match they tried to challenge Switzerland again, this time at home and took a lucky point in a goalless match but were again totally dominated by the opponent and had zero shots on goal! Before this they took an undeserved 1-0 win in Estonia, but let's remember Estonia are a pretty lowly football country. N. Ireland have scored just one goal in three of their latest matches. Their offense is indeed even more limited than Bulgaria's.

To sum up, Bulgaria have very good chance to take at least a point. Bulgaria +0.5 goals handicap is my pick for my growing fan-base!

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

保加利亚将在索非亚的瓦西里列夫斯基国家体育场(Nacionalen stadium Vasil Levski)主场迎战北爱尔兰。两支球队有5点到目前为止,在技术上都有机会在以小组第二的成绩因此有机会晋级世界杯于2022年在卡塔尔,但是机会很渺茫尽管瑞士第二已经11点了。意大利队以14分领跑小组，很有可能小组第一。让我们仔细看看…

这两支球队都不是真正的足球大国——保加利亚几十年前确实取得了一些成功，但近年来一直在走下坡路，而北爱尔兰从一开始就不是足球大国。两支球队目前的状态都不是很好，我预计他们将会有一场激烈的战斗，可能只有几个进球。根据一级评分，客队略强，但主场优势明显，保加利亚虽然不算大，但仍有39%的胜率。平局，可能是0-0或1-1都不会让我感到惊讶，因为这两支球队都缺乏进攻质量和创造力，但都有能力很好的防守一个平庸的对手。在最近的一场比赛中，保加利亚在客场以相当平衡的比分输给了立陶宛，东道主3-1的比分并没有反映出场上的情况。在此之前，他们在主场轻松地以4-1大胜乔治亚，但我必须说，这场比赛比最后4-1的比分要平衡得多。保加利亚在过去的一年里遭受了一些主场失利，但总的来说他们有一个很好的主场记录，即使在困难时期，他们的球迷也支持他们。大约一个月前，保加利亚在主场1-0击败立陶宛。

在最近的一场比赛中，北爱尔兰在客场0-2输给了瑞士队，完全处于统治地位。瑞士人的控球率约为70%，创造了25个进球机会，而客队只有很少的机会。他们的得分本可以是4-0!虽然我承认瑞士是一支非常好的球队，他们甚至在2020年欧洲杯上击败了法国，但北爱尔兰还是非常糟糕，除非他们在这场比赛中有所改进，否则他们可能不会赢。在这场比赛之前，他们试图再次挑战瑞士，这一次是在主场，在一场0比0的比赛中获得了幸运的一分，但他们再次完全被对手控制，零射正!在此之前，他们在爱沙尼亚1-0大胜，但让我们记住，爱沙尼亚是一个相当卑微的足球国家。北爱尔兰在最近的三场比赛中只进了一个球。他们的进攻确实比保加利亚的更有限。

总而言之，保加利亚有很好的机会获得至少一分。保加利亚+0.5球障碍是我为我不断增长的粉丝们挑选的!