Wales are presented with an early chance to put the 1-4 defeat to Spain behind them when they face Republic of Ireland in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Tuesday. Wales were totally outclassed by La Roja at home as Paco Alcacer netted a brace and Sergio Ramos and Marc Bartra scored one each. Aaron Ramsey and David Brooks came close to scoring but there was no joy for the over 50,000 welsh fans at the Principality Stadium until Sam Vokes turned in an 89th minute consolation goal.
Both teams have recent history with each other. Republic of Ireland and Wales were in the same qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup. Ireland defeated Wales in the last qualifying game to secure a play-off spot but could not scale the Denmark hurdle which meant failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Martin O’Neill remains in charge of Ireland and will be hoping his luck doesn’t run out soon. With fans clamouring for more creativity and front-foot play from his side, he needs to start winning games sooner rather than later. Recent results have been poor and their start to the UEFA Nation’s league have left a lot to be desired. The Green Army are bottom of group B4 with 1 point from 2 games. They lost the reverse fixture 1-4 to Wales drew 0-0 with Denmark in the second group game on Saturday. In between those two games, they have also drawn 1-1 with Poland in a friendly. Previous games in the year have also been lost to USA, France and Turkey.
Following Wales failure to qualify for the World Cup and the departure of erstwhile manager Chris Coleman, Manchester United legend and former Wales international Ryan Giggs was appointed to lead Wales into the future. He began his tenure with an 8-0 drubbing of China in the semi-final of the China Cup before losing 0-1 to Uruguay in the final. That was followed with a 0-0 draw with Mexico in an international friendly. Wales campaign in the UEFA Nations League opened with the 4-1 defeat of Ireland and 0-2 loss to current group leaders Denmark three days later.
Looking deeper into the stats ahead of this game, Republic of Ireland have won just one of their last seven matches and have only managed 21 shots on target in their last 10 games in all competitions while Wales’ have only won once in their last five games. There have been 16 previous meetings between these two teams and both sides have 6 wins with 4 draws.
Gareth Bale will not be available as he has returned to Real Madrid due to a muscle injury. Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu and Brentford’s Chris Mepham have both been released from the squad due to injury. Ampadu extended his knee in the game against Spain while Mepham got a knock in training. While uncapped duo Gwion Edwards and Kieron Freeman have been called up to replace the duo, 21-year old Bournemouth summer signing, David Brooks is expected to continue his rapid rise by replacing Bale. O’Neill will await an injury update on Callum O’Dowda while he will have to hope other players who haven’t played enough at their clubs will be fit enough to play two games in quick succession.
Revenge is certainly on the minds of the Republic of Ireland players following their 4-1 defeat to Wales in the first game. 32-year old Derby defender Richard Keogh, has urged his team-mates to ensure the Red Dragons walk into a storm on Tuesday. Wales can expect a physically intense game and a solid defensive organisation from the Irish while the goal fest of the first game is not likely to be relived.
Verdict
I think Ireland will put up a fight in this game and I am going for the draw, I can't see Wales losing and they could well nick it but Ireland are pretty hard to beat with their big Irish support at home, with only the 5-1 mauling against Denmark at home the only heavy defeat in recent games.
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