Euro 2016 : Wales vs Northern Ireland Preview

The Round of 16 kicks off today with Switzerland taking on Poland and the second game of the night feature another British derby in Wales vs Northern Ireland , just a day after their country voted to leave the European Union. The two sides clash in a major tournament for the first time and Chris Coleman’s Wales will be favourites to progress.

Wales finished top of their group in Winning 2 of the 3 matches , and although they were beaten by a last gasp goal from Raheem Sterling , they definitely deserved more from that game.  Gareth Bale has been phenomenal for the a Welsh scoring 3 goals in 3 games , he is living up to all the hype that was expected of him pre tournament .

Northern Ireland on the other hand lost 2 of their games , only winning against Ukraine and qualifying amongst the 4 best 3rd placed as they had 3 points from 3 games. Goalkeeper Michael McGovern has been the star so far for Michael O’Neill side , he has stood firm between the post and made several key saves so far , and in doing so also generated interest from several premier league clubs .   Northern Ireland would be expecting another similar performance from him today.

Wales lead the head to head 15 to 7 , with their last game coming prior to the Euro 2016 , a 1-1 draw which was secured by a late goal for Chris Coleman’s side. However they missed the talismanic duo of Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey that day and these two will surely cause havoc for the Irish defence today,

Thousands of Wales and Northern Ireland fans are expected in Paris , a game which will have a British atmosphere with English referee Martin Atkinson officiating, both these teams have a shot at history and this will be a great game to watch.

 

Also Read : Euro Fantasy Scout: Fantasy tips for Round of 16 Euro 2016