Northern Ireland will play the penultimate match of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign away to Finland on Friday.
On their last visit to Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium, Northern Ireland earned a point from a 1-1 draw in October 2015 to secure top spot in their group as they qualified for Euro 2016, but the context is very different this time.
Michael O’Neill’s injury-hit side have won just two of their eight Euro 2024 qualifiers so far – both against San Marino – and will be happy to see the back of this campaign after Monday’s match at home to Denmark.
Here the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of Friday’s game.
The hits keep coming
Injuries have been a constant theme throughout a campaign in which Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans and Shane Ferguson will not kick a ball.
But this week has seemed particularly cruel, with five players withdrawing – not least captain Jonny Evans and goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell – in the week since O’Neill named what was already an inexperienced squad last week.
It means 12 players are now out with injury, while Shea Charles is suspended for Friday’s match. O’Neill’s resources have never been more stretched than they are now.
Inexperience
With Paul Smyth, Paddy Lane and Brad Lyons joining Evans and Peacock-Farrell in pulling out of this trip, O’Neill has drafted in Ross McCausland, Caolan Boyd-Munce, Terry Devlin, Michael Forbes and Stephen McMullan.
All five are uncapped at senior level, while nine players in O’Neill’s squad have yet to reach double figures in caps.
Indeed, only Paddy McNair, Josh Magennis, George Saville, Jordan Thompson, Jamal Lewis and Conor Washington have more than 20 to their name. This is a very raw group.
A big opportunity for Hazard
With Peacock-Farrell out Conor Hazard is in line to start in Helsinki, the city where he enjoyed a loan spell in 2022, playing 39 games for HJK.
The 25-year-old will be up against plenty of familiar faces with four members of Finland’s squad – Arrtu Hoskonen, Pyry Peltola, Miro Tenho and Lucas Lingham – having been team-mates of his in the Finnish capital.
Hazard has made only one previous competitive appearance for Northern Ireland, last month in the 3-0 win over San Marino, although he played the full 90 minutes without needing to make a save.
But since then Hazard has lost the number one spot at Sky Bet Championship club Plymouth after Mike Cooper returned from nine months out with a ruptured ACL.
Signs of progress?
Despite everything that has gone wrong for Northern Ireland so far, O’Neill is adamant he has seen signs of progress in his side as he looks to develop young players who can spearhead future qualifying campaigns.
Players like Charles, Trai Hume and Isaac Price are starting to make their mark on this side and could now be considered contenders for regular playing time even within a fully-fit squad, while Daniel Ballard is emerging as a leader at the back.
But there is also frustration that players such as Conor Bradley, who could have really established himself over the past few months, have also been missing for most of the campaign with injury.
Saville’s big night
George Saville will take the armband for Friday’s match to mark the occasion the Millwall midfielder earns a landmark 50th cap.
The 30-year-old’s unfashionable role in midfield means has rarely been one to excite the Green and White Army during his international career, and while he may have scored a beauty against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, he is yet to break his duck for Northern Ireland.
But with seasoned internationals in desperately short supply, Saville’s experience has rarely been more important to the team.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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