Outsider bet?

Anyone know which British side has been the most impressive in international qualifiers recently? It’s not Scotland, despite their glorious 97th minute winner against the mighty Liechtenstein…

It’s not England – their recent groups have been pretty straightforward and yet they still failed to qualify in 2008…

And obviously it’s not Wales…

So step forward Northern Ireland.

They may be the smallest country of the lot but that hasn’t stopped them from excelling in recent years and they very nearly made the play-offs in each of the last two campaigns.

In fact, during qualifying for Euro 2008, they took a hugely impressive 20 points from a group containing, amongst others, Spain, Sweden and Denmark.

Picking up where they left off, qualifying for 2012 has also started strongly, with an away victory in Slovenia against a team that impressed at the World Cup.

Next up they take on an Italian side that did anything but impress in South Africa, in a game that looks ripe for a shock. Northern Ireland at home are a formidable obstacle as England, Spain and various other nations know all too well and another famous win on Friday is not beyond them.

Neither is the draw and with both selections looking overpriced, we could be onto a winner by backing Nigel Worthington’s men.

It could be worth backing Northern Ireland to beat Italy at 9/2 with BetFred and also the draw at 11/4 with Ladbrokes if you fancy an outside bet.