Switzerland vs Northern Ireland: World Cup Qualifier preview, team news, TV channel, kick-off time
Corry Evans becomes the sixth player to pull out of the Northern Ireland group; watch Switzerland vs Northern Ireland live on Sky Sports Football at 7.15pm on Saturday, kick-off 7.45pm
Friday 8 October 2021 14:45, UK
Team news ahead of the World Cup Qualifier between Switzerland and Northern Ireland on Saturday; kick-off 7.45pm.
Northern Ireland are due to face Switzerland in Geneva on Saturday night in a pivotal qualifier - they start the match three points behind the Swiss in the race for second place in Group C - before heading to Sofia to face Bulgaria.
Group C had opened up when Switzerland held Italy to a 0-0 draw in September.
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But the latest matchday saw the Azzurri stretch their lead at the summit to six points as they thrashed rock-bottom Lithuania 5-0 while the Swiss were thwarted in a stalemate with Northern Ireland. The pair are now set for a crunch meeting in the bid to finish second.
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"Big players were missing last month but we still performed," Northern Ireland manager Ian Baraclough said. "It's testament to the way the boys have gone about their work. We managed to cover those losses and still hit the levels we did.
"We need to take this into November and that's the message. If we can still be in with a shout right until the last game when we play Italy at home, it'll be a great achievement from the boys. We know the next game is massive as if we win at Switzerland, we'd go above them in the group.
"They will see it as an opportunity to pull away from us and then Italy would be there to be shot at for them. We're determined to keep this campaign alive in November."
Team news
Northern Ireland have suffered a further injury setback with Corry Evans forced to withdraw from Baraclough's squad while his brother Jonny is yet to report to camp.
Sunderland midfielder Corry Evans becomes the sixth player to pull out of the group for the World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland and Bulgaria after Shayne Lavery, Ali McCann, Gavin Whyte, Michael Smith and Trevor Carson were forced to withdraw.
And there is now a bigger concern with Leicester defender Jonny Evans yet to join up before the team travels to Switzerland on Thursday.
The centre-back has been managing a long-term foot injury, with Baraclough saying last week it would be the player himself who made a decision on his fitness for the fixtures.
Evans was not involved in either Leicester's Europa League defeat to Legia Warsaw or Sunday's 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace - with his last appearance coming in the Carabao Cup win over Millwall on September 22.
Both of the Evans brothers were missing for last month's internationals, in which Northern Ireland took four qualifying points with a win in Lithuania and a draw at home to Switzerland either side of a friendly victory in Estonia.
On Monday, Baraclough added Liverpool goalkeeper Liam Hughes, Leyton Orient striker Paul Smyth, Sunderland midfielder Carl Winchester and Morecambe defender Ryan McLaughlin to his group, but he will not replace Corry Evans.
Opta stats
- Switzerland have never lost against Northern Ireland on home soil (W1 D2), though the last two games have been goalless, in 2004 and 2017. In the other game, they won 2-1 in Lausanne in a World Cup qualifier in 1964.
- Northern Ireland haven't scored in any of their last four games against Switzerland (D3 L1), but three of those have ended goalless. The last Irishman to score against the Swiss was Darren Patterson in a 1-0 win back in April 1998 in a friendly.
- In their last three meetings - all in World Cup qualifiers between November 2017 and September 2021 - Switzerland and Northern Ireland have scored just one goal between them from 63 shots combined, a penalty scored by Switzerland's Ricardo Rodriguez in November 2017.
- Northern Ireland have only lost one of their last five World Cup qualifying games (W1 D3), a 2-0 defeat to Italy, but their three drawn games in this run have all been goalless, with the Irish scoring in just one of their last seven qualifiers, a 4-1 away win at Lithuania in September.
- Switzerland are unbeaten in their last 17 World Cup qualifiers on home soil (W12 D5) since losing 2-1 to Luxembourg back in September 2008, keeping 13 clean sheets in those matches.
- In major tournaments qualifiers for the EUROS/World Cup, Switzerland have only lost three of their last 32 games (W24 D5), although they've drawn the last two games goalless against Italy and Northern Ireland. They last went three such games without a win between October 2009 and October 2010 (vs Israel, England and Montenegro).
- The most shots a Northern Irish player has had in World Cup 2022 qualifying is four, from both Shayne Lavery and Jonny Evans. The only European nation who've had a lower tally for most shots by a player in qualifying is Liechtenstein, with Yanik Frick having only three.
- Northern Ireland goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell has saved both penalties he has faced in World Cup qualifying, saving against Lithuania and Switzerland - he's the first European goalkeeper to save two in a single qualifying campaign since Hugo Lloris for France in World Cup 2014 qualifying.
How to follow
Switzerland vs Northern Ireland is live on Sky Sports Football from 7.15pm on Saturday, kick-off 7.45pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms shortly after the final whistle.
