These two sit a top of Group F, with the visitors holding a point advantage and the Irish four clear of Hungary in third and a whopping eight ahead of Finland in fourth, those two chasers meet in Helsinki earlier in the day and there is the chance that come kick off, a draw in Belfast could further cement both teams chances of a top two finish. Obviously they are both in a very strong position and this is all a bit of a dream for the Irish who have not played in a major Championship for 30 years and never in the Euros. It is probably now or never and I doubt that this generation will ever get a better chance, a draw would be great, but a win would see supporters heading home to start booking flights and hotel rooms for France next year. Looking at team news, they will fancy their chances, with Romania arriving without a host of key players and the loss of Razvan Rat, Lucian Sanmartean and Cristian Tanase who all played on the left flank in the meeting in Bucharest are major issues.

 Hosts have a very solid EPL based spine and a few dark horses, including the fast improving Stuart Dallas of Brentford, who has a real eye for goal from out wide, Windsor Park is small, but can be an incredibly intimidating venue and all the advantages are with the hosts for this and odds look decent. It is not all good news as first-choice goalkeeper Roy Carroll will miss out and 30 yo Michael McGovern will step in, for what would be his first non-friendly national team start. Not ideal, but not enough to put me off, Ward, McGinn (also a former Bee) or (hopefully) Dallas could have a big day out wide given the issues for Romania and I will opt for.......

1.5 units Northern Ireland level ball 2.35 asian line/Sportmarket.

Good Luck.