Romania vs Northern Ireland
International Friendly, KO: 19:45 Mar 22, 2024, Arena Nationala, Bucharest
NORTHERN IRELAND travel to Bucharest to play Euro 2024 Finalists Romania in a friendly as they attempt to get back on track after a miserable qualifying campaign.
Boss Michael O'Neill has used Romania and Scotland as benchmarks for the levels his nation needs to get back to try and qualify for tournaments and they play two away trips against the Germany-bound countries in a row.
The visitors were blighted by a succession of injuries and managed only three wins in the Euro 2024 campaign and two of them were against San Marino.
However, they did offer up some real optimism when they inflicted a shock defeat on Denmark at Windsor Park in their last game of the group.
They have a young squad and face an up and coming Romania team who topped their group to qualify for the Euros, including Switzerland.
Edi Iordanescu's team were unbeaten in all ten games and while they had a relatively easy group, it's still not to be sniffed at going through the whole campaign without losing.
There's no real superstars in their team, but they work hard as a unit and are tough nuts to crack after only conceding five goals in their group.
How the bookies view it
Romania are evens favourites here with bet365.
Northern Ireland can be backed at 11/4 with Coral and the draw is 5/2 with UniBet.
Recent head to heads
Northern Ireland have yet to beat Romania in five attempts, although the last three games have finished in draws including when they met in the Nations League four years ago.
Players to watch
Ianis Hagi hasn't quite set the heather on fire in La Liga since his loan move from Rangers in the summer to Alaves. he's used mostly as a sub, but he remains a big player for the country where his father Gheorghe was a legend. He is 15/4 to score with bet365.
Jamies Reid could get his first cap at the age of 29 after his 21 goals this season for Stevenage Borough in English League One. He is 7/2 anytime with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
It's only a friendly, so it's best not to go steaming in to anything, but the hosts look a steal at evens to beat a young Irish side here.
Northern Ireland are still very much going through an experimental phase and plenty of their squad are very young. The experienced Romanians should do enough with home advantage too.
Romania neither score nor concede too many and Northern Ireland will surely not go gung ho. It points to a low-scoring game and it could pay to back Boylesports' 14/5 on a home win and under 2.5 goals.
This International Friendly match between Romania and Northern Ireland will be played on Mar 22, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Romania vs Northern Ireland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
