Northern Ireland v Luxembourg: Key talking points ahead of World Cup qualifier

Northern Ireland get their World Cup qualifying campaign under way on Thursday night when they face Luxembourg in the first game of an away doubleheader.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of the match.

Strong start needed

It is perhaps too early to apply a ‘must-win’ tag to the opening Group A fixture, but in a four-nation group that also includes Slovakia and Sunday’s opponents Germany, Northern Ireland have little margin for error in the chase for a play-off place. Michael O’Neill has always emphasised the need to make a strong start in any campaign and with the daunting prospect of Sunday’s trip to face Germany in Cologne, there is a clear emphasis on this opening fixture.

Injury woes

O’Neill has been hit with several injury problems since naming his squad a little under two weeks ago. Pierce Charles, Daniel Ballard, Brodie Spencer and Paul Smyth have all withdrawn from a group that was already missing Ciaron Brown, Jordan Thompson and Conor Hazard, hitting at the already-limited experience within this young squad. On top of that, Conor Bradley has played only 10 minutes of competitive football this season for Liverpool after being hampered by a hamstring problem in pre-season.

Peacock-Farrell to return?

Bailey Peacock-Farrell is back in the Northern Ireland squad for the first time since last November and, with both Charles and Hazard missing, has the opportunity to reach a half century of caps this week – a year after reaching 48. The 28-year-old has endured a difficult year, losing his place at Birmingham and then getting off to a poor start on loan at Blackpool this term, with Steve Bruce forced to defend him after he conceded 11 goals in his first four League One appearances. But of the other goalkeepers in this squad, Luke Southwood has only 45 minutes of international football to his name – the second half of a 3-1 friendly win here in Luxembourg in 2022 – while Stephen McMullan is uncapped.

New-look Luxembourg

Luxembourg have become familiar opponents in recent years with Thursday the fifth meeting between the two nations in the last seven years. But there will be a significant change in the Luxembourg dugout with Luc Holtz having ended his 15-year reign to take charge of Waldhof Mannheim. His replacement Jeff Strasser played 98 times for Luxembourg – their fifth most-capped player in history – and Northern Ireland fans with long memories may remember him playing in the first meeting between the two nations, a 3-1 Northern Ireland win in 2000. But he will have been in charge only 17 days come Thursday’s match and much about his set-up is unknown.

Lessons learned?

It is only 10 months since Northern Ireland were last at the Stade de Luxembourg, but it is not an entirely happy memory as O’Neill’s side blew a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 in their final Nations League game. The point was enough to earn Nations League promotion but the way they conceded quickfire goals to Seid Korac and Gerson Rodrigues to set up a tense final 15 minutes was a wake-up call for this young side.