Republic of Ireland vs Slovakia preview

September 1, 2011
By: Matthew Clarke

The two teams are tied on points at the top of Group B and with Russia also standing at 13, this promises to be a fiery encounter.

After being robbed of their place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Republic of Ireland continued the rich vein of form and they are now very close to qualifying for Euro 2012.

The unexpected home defeat to Russia was quickly erased with one point from Slovakia and a double victory over FYR Macedonia, so the Irish now have destiny in their own hands.

After hosting Slovakia, Ireland travel to Russia and it is likely that the two games will decide the outcome of team’s quest for a place at Euro 2012, since Giovanni Trapattoni’s men should have an easy job in their last two qualifiers against Andorra and Armenia.

Republic of Ireland are 2.00 (1/1) to beat Slovakia, whereas they are 1.50 (1/2) to qualify for the final tournament.

Boss Govanni Trapattoni has reasons for optimism as Aiden McGeady has made a long-awaited return from an ankle injury and he will be in contention, while John O’Shea is also available after playing full 90 minutes for Sunderland at the weekend.

Darren O’Dea, Sean St Ledger and Shane Long missed training on Monday due to minor knocks, but the trio will be in contention for the Slovakia game.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Given – O’Shea, Dunne, St Ledger, Ward – Duff, Whelan, Andrews, McGeady – Doyle, Keane.

Slovakia produced a real coup by qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and after showing some promising displays in South Africa, the team are determined to make it to Euro 2012 as well.

Slovakia enjoyed a bright start to the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, with back to back wins over FYR Macedonia and Russia putting them in the driving seat, but they just couldn’t keep the rich vein of form for much longer.

A defeat in Armenia and 1:1 draw at home to Ireland saw the Eastern Europeans slip from the first place in the standings, while the narrow wins over minnows Andorra did nothing to improve the atmosphere in the squad.

Vladimir Weiss’ men have a very difficult fixture list as compared to their rivals for the top two places and thus the odds of 2.00 (1/1) offered on Slovakia to qualify.

The gaffer has decided to recall Fenerbahce winger Miroslav Stoch, while Vladimir Weiss jr, who just completed a loan move to Espanyol, keeps his place in the side.

Probable starting line-up (4-5-1): Mucha – Pekarik, Skrtel, Durica, Cech – Weiss, Kucka, Hamsik, Karhan, Stoch – Vittek.

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