Preview: Northern Ireland vs. Switzerland - prediction, team news, lineups

Northern Ireland return to competitive action on Wednesday evening knowing that they realistically must avoid defeat against Switzerland to retain any hope of qualifying for the next World Cup.

While the visitors will still be targeting top spot in Group C, victory will be enough to put them on the brink of guaranteeing at least a playoff spot.

Match preview

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The opening period of Ian Baraclough's reign as Northern Ireland manager did not go to plan as the Green and White Army narrowly missed out on Euro 2020 qualification.

However, there have been encouraging signs of late with Northern Ireland prevailing in three of their last four fixtures, each win coming away from home.

There is an argument that Baraclough should not get too excited with victories over Malta, Lithuania and Estonia, teams all below his side in the FIFA rankings.

Nevertheless, Northern Ireland have needed to get back on track after previously suffering six defeats during an eight-match period.

Each of their last eight goals have been scored by different members of the squad, none of which came from a player who has netted more than five times for his country.

Switzerland have seemingly moved up a level over the past 10 months, their only defeats during normal time coming at the hands of Belgium and Italy.

Their latest standout result came against the latter of those nations with a goalless draw being earned against the recently-crowned European champions.

While Switzerland needed to ride their luck during that fixture, recently-appointed boss Murat Yakin will be delighted with keeping a clean sheet against a team who have now gone 36 matches unbeaten.

With the return fixture against Italy not coming until the middle of November, Yakin and his players have an opportunity to take advantage of two matches in hand.

These two nations are meeting for the first time since Switzerland edged a two-legged World Cup playoff tie in November 2017.

Team News

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Having made widespread changes for the Estonia friendly, Baraclough could revert back to the majority of the team which started the victory in Lithuania.

Despite making the headlines on Sunday night, Shane Ferguson will likely remain among the replacements, as will forward Kyle Lafferty.

With Paddy McNair serving a one-match suspension, Tom Flanagan could be handed a start in a back three.

Given the effort of his side against Italy, Yakin will give consideration to making a number of alterations.

Denis Zakaria is in line to be handed a recall in midfield, while Remo Freuler is available again after serving a one-match suspension.

Experienced defender Fabian Schar will likely remain on the substitutes' bench, but forward Andi Zeqiri may be given an opportunity from the start.

Northern Ireland possible starting lineup:
Peacock-Farrell; Flanagan, Cathcart, Ballard; Smith, McCann, Davis, Thompson, Lewis; Lavery, Washington

Switzerland possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Zakaria, Frei, Freuler; Zuber, Steffen; Seferovic

We say: Northern Ireland 0-2 Switzerland

While Baraclough and his players are currently on a high, facing Switzerland represents a significant step up in class for Northern Ireland.

With that in mind, we expect the visitors to battle their way to all three points, keeping a clean sheet in the process.