Slovakia v Northern Ireland: Line-ups, stats and preview

Northern Ireland will hope to do the double over Slovakia in World Cup qualifying to put themselves in pole position to at least secure a play-off spot in their penultimate Group A clash. 

Michael O’Neill’s men beat Slovakia 2-0 in Belfast in the last round of fixtures before losing 1-0 to Germany, leaving them in third place, three points behind both leaders Germany and Slovakia. 

While Northern Ireland could still earn a play-off spot on the back of their UEFA Nations League ranking, victory in Kosice would give them an excellent opportunity to make sure they do not require that fallback option, as they finish off their Group A campaign at home against minnows Luxembourg.

With Germany visiting Luxembourg on Friday, winning the group is likely to be beyond Northern Ireland, who will be consigned to third place if they lose and the four-time world champions avoid what would be a seismic defeat.

The prospect of winning the group is the motivation for Slovakia as they aim to reach the finals for only the second time as an independent country, having last qualified in 2010.

Slovakia stunned Germany to begin the qualifying campaign, handing Die Mannschaft their first ever away defeat in a World Cup qualifier.

The previous defeat to Northern Ireland saw Slovakia surrender their advantage over Germany in the table, but revenge over O’Neill’s side followed by an unlikely away win in Leipzig would see Francesco Calzona’s side win the group and seal qualification.

Having failed to win their Nations League group, victory over Northern Ireland is vital for Slovakia regardless of their ambitions of securing direct qualification.

It is a top-two finish or bust for Slovakia, who have not lost a competitive match on home soil since a 1-0 defeat to Portugal in September 2023 in qualifying for Euro 2024.

And O’Neill knows the challenge ahead of Northern Ireland is a formidable one.

“It was a brilliant result for Slovakia and it’s probably given them an edge over us,” O’Neill told The Press Association of Slovakia’s win over Germnay. 

“But we have to take that back. Having beaten them at home, now we have to take it off them when we go to Kosice.

“It will be a massive game for Slovakia as well because they will believe if they can beat us, they’ll go to Germany with the opportunity to top the group. That’s a massive incentive for them so we have to be able to deal with that.”

O’Neill is focused on removing the need to rely on the Nations League ranking, adding: “I think a safety net is the best way to describe it. But make no mistake about it – we want to finish in the top two positions of the group. That was our ambition at the start.

“We talked about that with the players – how we would do that, what we felt we would need to do that. And we have the opportunity to do that.”

Team news for Slovakia v Northern Ireland

Slovakia will be able to welcome back Stanislav Lobotka following his recent return from injury.

Northern Ireland have a host of injury issues, with first-choice goalkeeper Pierce Charles still unavailable. His brother Shea is absent from the midfield with a hamstring problem.

Ali McCann is out with a broken arm, while Ethan Galbraith is banned.

Brodie Spencer is another absentee, but Liverpool defender Conor Bradley is back from suspension.

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Predicted line-ups for Slovakia v Northern Ireland

Slovakia: Dubravka; Gyomber, Skriniar, Obert, Hancko; Duda, Lobotka, Bero; Haraslin, Strelec, Schranz.

Northern Ireland: Peacock-Farrell; Hume, Ballard, McNair; Bradley, Price, Saville, Devenny, Lewis; Marshall, Reid.

How to watch Slovakia v Northern Ireland: TV and online streams

Slovakia v Northern Ireland kicks off at 7:45pm UK time. It will be broadcast on BBC Two in Northern Ireland. It will also be available to watch via BBC iPlayer and on the BBC Sport website and app.

In the Republic of Ireland, the game will be broadcast on Virgin Media Two and will also be available via the Virgin Media Player and the Virgin TV Go app.

Stats for Slovakia v Northern Ireland

• Slovakia and Northern Ireland have met six times. Slovakia have won three times, with Northern Ireland claiming two victories.
• Northern Ireland have never beaten Slovakia away from home.
• Slovakia are unbeaten in their last eight competitive international matches at home.
• Northern Ireland are the only side to score against Slovakia in this World Cup qualifying campaign.