Switzerland international striker Mario Gavranovic warns World Cup qualification is wide open. ‘There’s no guarantee Italy will win easily in Northern Ireland.’
The final games in Group C kick off at 19.45 GMT.
The Azzurri lead on goal difference, but it is only +11 to +9, and while they are in Belfast, the Swiss side host Bulgaria.
“We must do our job and then see what happens in the other game, because there’s no guarantee Italy will win easily in Northern Ireland,” said Gavranovic.
He has a point, because Northern Ireland are unbeaten at Windsor Park in this group and have not conceded a single goal, drawing 0-0 with Bulgaria and Switzerland, then beating Lithuania 1-0 thanks to an own goal.
That was their first competitive home victory in two-and-a-half years.
Italy have never won in Belfast, emerging with a pair of stalemates and a 2-1 defeat, which proved decisive to miss qualification for the 1958 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Switzerland won 3-1 away to Bulgaria in March.
and there’s no guarantee switzerland win easily against bulgaria
I would love Bulgaria to do a Serbia and shock these guys at their own stadium but we aren’t that lucky . We can only hope