Republic of Ireland welcome Ukraine to Aviva Stadium, Dublin in their second Group 1 match of League B in 2022-23 UEFA Nations League.
Victory could see Republic of Ireland move off the foot of the group and potentially go top, whilst Ukraine can likewise go top but only if Armenia lose away to Scotland at Hampden Park.
Team News
James Talbot has been called up by Republic of Ireland to replace Gavin Bazunu who has withdrawn from the squad with a back injury.
Manager – Stephen Kenny though could rotate his squad with Conor Hourihane, Jayson Molumby and Dara O’Shea amongst those looking to start, having been named as unused substitutes in Saturday’s defeat in Armenia.
Ukraine have no fresh injury concerns but manager – Oleksandr Petrakov could opt to rotate his squad with Andriy Pyatov, Oleksandr Pikhalyonok and Artem Dovbyk amongst those looking for starts, having been benched for Sunday’s World Cup Qualifying Play-Off Final defeat against Wales.
Stat Attack
- This is Republic of Ireland’s first-ever meeting against Ukraine in all competitions.
- Ukraine are visiting Republic of Ireland for the first time across all competitions.
- In nine meetings against nations within the British Isles across the last decade, Ukraine have won just three meetings in all competitions (W3, D2, L4).
- Ireland have scored in five of their last six home matches in all competitions (W2, D4) with exception of a 0-0 draw against Portugal in November 2021.
- Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Wales ended a 11 match scoring streak for Ukraine in all competitions.
Prediction
Following a disappointing away display in Armenia, Ireland now need a huge performance if are to get their form quickly back on track but they need to be much sharper in their tempo and creative if they want to get anything out of this game.
Ukraine meanwhile will feel disappointed to have not qualified for the World Cup because for all of their attacking might and front-footed quality, they were simply defensively outplayed by Wales which is no mean feat but they now need to react with a more clinical display.
Do that and I can’t see past an away win but I can see Ireland trying to make this as difficult as they possibly can at home, yet Ukraine should have enough firepower to find a breakthrough one way or another if they deliver a performance like we saw against Scotland last week.
Prediction: ROI 0-2 Ukraine
Result: ROI 0-1 Ukraine
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