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Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Jun 11, 2019 at 7.45pm UK
 
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McNair (86')

5 talking points ahead of Belarus v Northern Ireland

:Headline: 5 talking points ahead of Belarus v Northern Ireland: ID:361664: from db_amp
Michael O'Neill's side have the chance to win four consecutive qualifying games at the start of a campaign for the first time.

Northern Ireland head to Borisov on Tuesday night to face Belarus in their fourth Euro 2020 qualifier.

Here Press Association Sport takes a look a five talking points head of the game.

On target

For months Northern Ireland have spoken about the importance of taking maximum points from their first four qualifiers home and away to Estonia and Belarus, and Saturday's come-from-behind win in Tallinn kept alive their chances of achieving it. Northern Ireland have never previously won four successive qualifiers to start a campaign but victory in Borisov could be key to their hopes of playing in Euro 2020. Win and they will sit nine points clear of the Dutch. Sure, Northern Ireland will have played two games more but Holland's next qualifier is against Germany in Hamburg, and the pressure will all be on Ronald Koeman's men.

Super subs

Temperatures in Tallinn over the weekend were unusually high, reaching 30 degrees during the day and still in the high 20s during Saturday's match thanks to the late evening sun. Several of O'Neill's players spoke of being physically drained after the game so they will be grateful for a late kick-off time on Tuesday. Although Borisov is due to enjoy similar temperatures during the day, the match will begin at 9.45pm local time, and the mercury should have dropped considerably. An extra factor for Northern Ireland to deal with, however, is travel. Due to limited accommodation, the team will stay in Minsk, a 75-minute bus trip away from the Borisov Arena.

Digging deep

A draining night in Tallinn will leave O'Neill with further selection headaches as he must find a balance between building on the momentum of a dramatic win with finding fresh legs in his squad. He is not short of options for freshening up the side, with the likes of Magennis, Jordan Jones and Corry Evans ready to come in if needed.

No joy for Belarus

Northern Ireland will be facing a Belarus team who have lost their opening three qualifiers, conceding eight goals in the process and scoring just one. That goal came in a 2-1 loss to Northern Ireland in Belfast in March, while they were routed 4-0 by the Dutch earlier this year and went down 2-0 to Germany at home on Saturday.

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