On Friday evening it seemed that Northern Ireland were about to record an historic win over Portugal, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to shatter their hopes with a 15-minute second-half hat-trick.

Michael O'Neill's side have an almost immediate chance to recover from that setback when they travel to the Stade Josy Barthel to take on Luxembourg this Tuesday.

While neither nation can qualify for next year's World Cup in Brazil, this encounter does hold significance for both teams because the loser will end the evening bottom of the standings.

The visiting Greens will be without Chris Brunt and Kyle Lafferty for the clash because of suspension, but Dean Shiels has been drafted in to act as cover.

Meanwhile, the hosts are likely to include Aurelien Joachim in their starting lineup following his goal against Russia last time out.

The last time these two sides met was a year ago at Windsor Park when a late goal from Daniel da Mota sealed a 1-1 draw for Luxembourg.

Recent form

Luxembourg: DDLDWL

Northern Ireland: DDDLWL

Possible starting lineups

Luxembourg: Joubert; Philipps, Gerson, Payal, Janisch; Bensi, Laterza, Jans, Da Mota; Joachim, Turpel

Northern Ireland: Carroll; Hodson, Ferguson, McAuley, J Evans; McGinn, Davis, Paterson, C Evans, Norwood; Ward

Sports Mole says: 1-1

Written by
Liam Apicella

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