Republic of Ireland host Greece at Aviva Stadium, Dublin in Group B of UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifying.
Victory will see Ireland stay fourth in the table but move to within three points of third-placed Greece.
The Greeks meanwhile can eliminate Ireland from contention with a win and potentially go second if can better the Netherlands’ result against France.
Team News
Sammie Szmodics has withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad for personal reasons.
Aaron Connolly is also ruled out with an unspecified injury.
Greece have no fresh injury concerns to report with a full squad available for selection.
When is Kick-Off?
Ireland host Greece at Aviva Stadium on Friday 13 October in a 7:45pm BST kick-off, live on Viaplay Sport 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Republic of Ireland are winless in four previous meetings against Greece in all competitions (D1, L3).
- Greece have won each of their two previous visits to Ireland by 1-0 result in April 2000 and November 2012 respectively (W2).
- Ireland lost their only previous competitive meeting against Greece in June 2023 (L1), as they suffered a 2-1 defeat in Athens.
- Adam Idah has scored in each of Ireland’s last two home games (W1, L1).
- Greece have won one of their three away matches in this Qualifying Group (W1, L2), and have conceded four goals in their last two games on the road without scoring.
Prediction
September’s international window was always going to be brutal for Ireland but they would of learned a lot from their defeats to France and Netherlands, especially defensively after having blown an early lead against the Dutch so hopefully those lessons will be applied here.
Evan Ferguson’s return meanwhile will be a welcome boost given his quality and physicality, because his presence high up the pitch beyond Greece’s defence could well be key to their chances of winning this game
Greece though are a strong team who can’t be underestimated such is their quality and in-form attack, which is a huge concern for Ireland’s defence to handle if want to win this game.
Stephen Kenny’s Irish though must be clinical on their attacks and try to frustrate Greece’s forwards because if players like Vangelis Pavlidis and Giorgos Giakoumakis get upon goal, I can see just one result coming.
Prediction: ROI 1-2 Greece
Result: ROI 0-2 Greece
Leave a Reply