Republic of Ireland Team Preview – Overview
The Republic of Ireland have qualified for this tournament for the second time in a row although they will be hoping to fare much better than they did four years ago when they failed to win a match and couldn’t even gain a point. They saw off Bosnia in the playoff to make it to this stage of the event.
You would hope the Irish have learnt from the disaster of four years ago but the draw hasn’t been very kind to them again and they are in with a couple of European heavyweights in Belgium and Italy and a dangerous side in Sweden so coming out of the groups would be a fantastic achievement for this team. If they do that who knows how far they can go.
Statistics
Best Performance – Group Stage (1988 & 2012)
Previous Appearances – 2 (1988 & 2012)
Qualified – Group D Third – Playoff Winner
Qualifying Record
P-8 W-3 D-3 L-2 GF-18 GA-7 PTS-12
Beat Bosnia & Herzegovina in Playoffs 3-1 on Aggregate.
Fixtures
Republic of Ireland vs Sweden – Monday 13th June, kickoff 17:00 at Stade de France, Paris
Belgium vs Republic of Ireland – Saturday 18th June, kickoff 14:00 at Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux
Italy vs Republic of Ireland – Wednesday 22nd June, kickoff 20:00 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille
Squad
Manager: Martin O’Neill
Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Stoke), Darren Randolph (West Ham), Keiren Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday).
Defenders: Seamus Coleman (Everton), Cyrus Christie (Derby), Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa), Richard Keogh (Derby), John O’Shea (Sunderland), Shane Duffy (Blackburn), Stephen Ward (Burnley)
Midfielders: Aiden McGeady (Everton), James McClean (West Brom), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), James McCarthy (Everton), Jeff Hendrick (Derby), David Meyler (Hull), Stephen Quinn (Reading), Wes Hoolahan (Norwich), Robbie Brady (Norwich), Jonathan Walters (Stoke)
Forwards: Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), Shane Long (Southampton), Daryl Murphy (Ipswich)
Betting
I don’t see the Republic coming out of this group and if they don’t get anything from their opening match against Sweden then this campaign might replicate the 2012 one in that they get nothing at all to show for their efforts. There are no markets that provide equivalent value to the struggles I think they will face though.
I do like the top goalscorer market here however and I’m keen on the favourite Shane Long. All the talk is that Robbie Keane is carrying an injury so how much game time he will see remains to be seen. You certainly wouldn’t think he will play all the minutes of all three matches. Even if he does he might not be as effective as he would like.
Long will start as the focal point of the attack and with his pace in behind against slow defences in Italy and Sweden he might be the one to have some joy. I think a couple of goals will win this market. One might even be enough and I think Long can achieve that and land a nice punt as long as the same defender doesn’t get lucky a couple of times.
Tips
Back S.Long Top Republic of Ireland Tournament Goalscorer for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
