Azerbaijan vs Northern Ireland October 11, 2013

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There will be nothing but pride to compete for in Baku on Friday night when Azerbaijan play host to Northern Ireland.

The home side go into the World Cup qualifier bottom of Group F and without a win from their first eight matches, while the Greens are two places and one point better off than their hosts.

Manager Michael O'Neill, who has won just one of his 12 games at the helm, has a handful of injuries to contend with for this encounter, with Aaron Hughes and Aberdeen striker Josh Magennis already ruled out.

Meanwhile, Palermo forward Kyle Lafferty will be absent because of suspension, but he could return for the final qualifier against Israel on Tuesday.

Azerbaijan coach Berti Vogts has named a largely youthful squad, with only one player - defender and captain Rashad Sadygov - over the age of 30.

These two sides have met on three previous occasions. Northern Ireland have won one of those, while the other two clashes have ended in draws.

Northern Ireland are only one point above Azerbaijan but they have at least managed a win when they upset Russia at Windsor Park. Although they lost their last away match to fellow strugglers Luxembourg, Martin O’Neill’s side will hope to draw on recent good performances against Portugal and Russia and cement their place in fourth position in the group.

KICK-OFF: Friday, 5.00pm

Azerbaijan: Agayev; Sadıqov, Allahverdiyev, Abısov, Sukurov; Ramaldanov, Amirquliyev, Abdullayev, Aliyev, Ozkara; Dadaşov

N Ireland: Carroll; McAuley, J Evans, Cathcart, Bruce; Brunt, Davis, C Evans, Norwood, Ferguson; Paterson

Andorra vs Romania October 11, 2013

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Romania will look to salvage its World Cup hopes when it takes on Romania on Friday.
With 13 points in eight games thus far, the Romanians are just one point out of second place and have a huge opportunity to finish the day in the runner-up position.

The top eight second-place teams wind up moving on to the second round of UEFA Qualifiers where they will take on another team in a two-legged playoff. The winner of that match moves on to the World Cup Finals next summer.

Current second-place holder Hungary faces the first-place Netherlands on Friday and has a likely chance of losing against one of the top teams in the world. If this scenario plays out and Romania beats Andorra then the team would momentarily take over second place; of course the match between Turkey and Estonia must be taken into account as a win for the Turks could push them into second place as well.

Andorra currently sits in last place in the group with eight losses in eight games; the team has not even scored a goal throughout the campaign and has conceded 24 times. Andorra's worst performances were 5-0 losses against Hungary and Turkey. Romania took down the team 4-0 in Bucharest on Sept. 11, 2012.

Andorra vs Romania October 11, 2013

Start Time: Kick-off starts at 2:30 p.m. EST.

Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Liechtenstein October 11, 2013

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Bosnia and Herzegovina will look to move one step closer to booking its first World Cup berth when it takes on Liechtenstein on Friday.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has never appeared in the World Cup Finals and has complete control over its destiny in this cycle. With 19 points in eight group matches, the team has 19 points and is tied for first place with Greece. However, its +20 goal differential (25 scored, five conceded) gives the team a distinct advantage in its final two matches; Greece has a +5 goal differential and would need to score a ton of goals and see Bosnia and Herzegovina concede a lot to win this tie breaker.

Bosnia won its head to head play with Greece by taking four of six points and essentially has that tiebreaker locked up as well. However, the team must focus on pulling off wins in its final two games with the pressure ramped up to its highest.
The team suffered a shocking 1-0 loss at home against Slovakia with a huge chance to take over the group; fortunately Bosnia and Herzegovina responded with a 2-1 win on the road to keep level with Greece.

Group G action comes from Greece v Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina v Liechtenstein as Bet365 release the latest betting odds and live streaming on the games.

The battle for top spot in Group G is likely to go down to wire with Bosnia-Herzegovnia and Greece both in contention with two games remaining.

The duo currently sit on 19 points with almost identical records having won 6 and drawn one of their 8 games so far.

As a result, concentration will be essential in its final two games against Liechtenstein and Lithuania. The first encounter should not be difficult; Bosnia and Herzegovina destroyed Liechtenstein 8-1 in the two teams' previous encounter. Bosnia and Herzegovina also took down Lithuania 3-0 at home.
Prediction: Bosnia and Herzegovina wins 5-0.