Republic of Ireland
vs
Wales
Kick-off
19:45 GMT
24 March 2017
It’s the battle of the home nations as Wales take the very short trip over to Ireland to face Ireland. Both teams will be hoping to pick up all 3 points as they both look towards qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia from Group D. It’s currently Republic of Ireland who are in pole position as they sit top of the group after 4 games whereas their opponents sit in 3rd behind Ireland with 4 points less. Wales will look to close this gap to only 1 point as they visit the Aviva Stadium.
In the 4 meetings between the two sides since 2000, Wales haven’t beaten Ireland as the Irish have won twice and drawn twice. The last fixture in 2013 ended 0-0 and there has only been one game where both teams scored.
Ireland will be confident of beating their nearby rivals on Friday and they have the perfect chance to do just that in front of their own fans. However, James McCarthy probably won’t be available which could be a big problem for the hosts. Wes Hoolahan, Ciaran Clark and Harry Arter have all withdrawn from Martin O’Neill’s squad while Robbie Brady is suspended from the clash. They might struggle with so many unavailable players. Latest matches: Republic of Ireland
12.11.2016
Worl
Austria
Ireland
0:1
W
09.10.2016
Worl
Moldova
Republic of Ireland
1:3
W
06.10.2016
Worl
Republic of Ireland
Georgia
1:0
W
05.09.2016
Worl
Serbia
Republic of Ireland
2:2
D
31.08.2016
Inte
Republic of Ireland
Oman
4:0
W
With so many of Ireland’s players unavailable for the clash, Wales will be even more confident of coming away with a victory. They have a few of their best players back for the fixture as Ben Davies, Aaron Ramsey and their main man Gareth Bale all come back into the squad after being injured in the last international break.
Latest matches: Wales
12.11.2016 | Worl | Wales | Serbia | 1:1 | D |
09.10.2016 | Worl | Wales | Georgia | 1:1 | D |
06.10.2016 | Worl | Austria | Wales | 2:2 | D |
05.09.2016 | Worl | Wales | Moldova | 4:0 | W |
06.07.2016 | Euro | Portugal | Wales | 2:0 | L |
This game has got draw written all over it. Ireland have better form and home advantage but several decent players missing while Wales have average form but a lot of their good payers coming back. It should be a great game between two strong rivals and will hopefully have quite a few goals.
24 March 2017 - 19:45 GMT
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