Recap
Kazakhstan was not bad at home against Finland, but lacked the finishing touch which the visitors had and they walked away with the three points. This win allowed Finland to remain alone at the top, but only three points away from Kazakhstan. This is maybe the last chance to stay in the race for the first two places in the Euro qualifiers, while they will get a second chance through the Nations League play-offs, where they had topped their group. Northern Ireland presented significant problems in the defensive area away to Slovenia and paid the price in a 4-2 defeat. Little by little, their thoughts turn to the Nations League. Coach Michael O’Neill have no luck at all. After a return as Northern Ireland manager for the Euro 2024 qualifiers, O’Neill’s plans have been hit by injury after injury to key players. He can’t count on captain Steven Davis (140 caps), Corry Evans (69 caps), Stuart Dallas (62 caps), Shane Ferguson (56 caps), Shayne Lavery (40 caps, 11 goals), Jamal Lewis (34 caps), Liam Donnelly (24 caps), Conor Bradley (13 caps), and Dale Taylor (3 caps). A further blow to O’Neill is the injuries of defenders Cathcart (70 caps) and Brown (21 caps), who were injured in the match against Slovenia. They are in a series of 4 defeats in a row, and I doubt that can get a positive result from Astana Arena.