Opta Stats: Northern Ireland to maintain World Cup bid

Michael O'Neill has the perfect chance for that first win

With the help of Opta, Christian Crowther outlines some bets for Wednesday's international action...

Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan (Wednesday, 19:45, Sky Sports 2)
Azerbaijan have lost 20 of their 21 away World Cup qualifiers, beating Liechtenstein 2-0 in the other. They failed to score in 18 of those matches
Michael O'Neill may still be searching for his first win as Northern Ireland manager but last month's away draw against Portugal will have felt every bit like a victory. Now his team face Azerbaijan in a game that they must win in order to keep their qualification hopes alive. Their record at Windsor Park - three wins and one loss from their last six World Cup qualifiers - makes it the perfect arena to achieve that elusive victory. 
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Luxembourg v Scotland (Wednesday, 19:15, ESPN)
Scotland have kept just a single clean sheet in their last 10 matches away from home and that was against Liechtenstein
Billy Stark's task as interim Scotland boss hasn't been made any easier ahead of this trip to Luxembourg with no fewer than nine high profile drop-outs from the squad this week. Darren Fletcher will lead out a largely unrecognisable Scottish team from the one has played in the opening qualifiers, which will likely leave them vulnerable at the back. They should still have enough to see off Luxembourg, though a clean sheet may elude Stark's makeshift side.
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Sweden v England (Wednesday, 19:45, ITV 1)
England have scored just three goals in their last seven trips to Stockholm and have won none of these games (L4 D3)
Thankfully for Roy Hodgson, all the talk this week has surrounded the call up of Wilfried Zaha and Steven Gerrard's imminent entry into the century club. England surely can't play any worse than they did in Poland where they lacked spark, cohesion and drive in equal measures and were extremely lucky to escape with a point. Hodgson will experiment, though he will also be keen to keep their eight-game unbeaten away record intact and build on the five clean sheets in that run.
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Republic of Ireland v Greece (Wednesday, 19:45, Sky Sports 3)
Greece have won four and lost none of their last five matches
The Euro 2012 quarter-finalists arrive at the Aviva Stadium in tip-top form as this stat suggests, though they have hardly been wiping sides off the map. Greece have long been known for their defensive tactics (some would say dull), however it's a formula which delivered major tournament success, so it's understandable that they stick with it. Three successive clean sheets is testament to their organisational prowess, so Republic of Ireland fans could be in for a frustrating night in Dublin.
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Recommended Bets:
Back Northern Ireland to win 1-0 @ 6.25/1
Back both teams to score in Luxembourg v Scotland @ 2.111/10
Back under 2.5 goals in England v Sweden @ 1.834/5
Back Republic of Ireland to draw with Greece @ 3.39/4