Germany face Republic of Ireland with a point to prove

Euro 2016 Qualifying

Football
Published: 14/10/2014

Germany have not enjoyed a good start to their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign and can expect another tough match when they take on the Republic of Ireland in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday night.

Having scaled the heights of international football by winning the world cup in Brazil, Germany have struggled to live up to their tags of world champions, which started with a 4-2 home defeat by Argentina in September. The Germans followed this up with a win at home against Scotland in their opening Euro 2016 group qualifier but the performance was not convincing and the margin of victory was narrow. Then came the unthinkable, a 2-0 defeat away to next-door neighbours Poland in a match that the home team seemed to want more than their more illustrious opponents. Despite their poor form and the number of injuries to key players such as Marco Reus, Bastien Schweinsteiger, Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira, Germany are still favourites to beat Republic of Ireland, with odds of 1/4 available from SkyBet.

If they are to win the match, then the forward line will need to find their goal scoring boots, having failed to make their chances count in Warsaw and Bayern Munich marksman Thomas Mueller is available at 4/1 with ladbrokes to grab the first goal of the game. However, with their attacking players struggling to convert chances in recent matches, it could fall to players further back to not only keep a clean sheet but to also grab the goals. Mads Hummels, the Borussia Dortmund defender scored two goals during Germany`s successful world cup summer and is a constant threat from corners and free-kicks. The centre-back looked dangerous against Poland and is 8/1 with Coral to score at any time during the match.

In contrast to Germany, the Republic of Ireland come in to the match in good form, having negotiated a tricky away game in Georgia and then demolishing newcomers Gibraltar in a confidence boosting 7-0 home win. Although they have only played the two weakest teams so far, the Republic are still three points clear of Germany and a point, available to back at 11/2 with BetVictor will see them keep this cushion intact before the next round of games in November. If they are to get anything from the match, the Republic of Ireland will be looking to their MLS based striker Robbie Keane to add to the goals he scored against Gibraltar and he is 14/1 with paddypower to open the scoring in this one. With Ireland`s tactics likely to revolve around the counter-attack, the pacey and skilful winger Aiden McGeady will be a threat and the Everton man is 11/1 with bet365 to score ant any time.

Despite losing the match to Poland, Germany still outplayed their opponents for the majority of the match. They created some good chances which they failed to take on the night but the result could easily have been different and the fact that Ireland are priced at 16/1 with BetVictor shows how superior the German`s remain, especially at home. Having lost and failed to score in their previous match, expect Germany to come out with a point to prove and with plenty of attacking intent. This could leave them slightly exposed at the back and Coral offer 9/4 for a German win with both teams to score.

One player who did impress for Germany against Poland was Karim Bellarabi, who made his debut in the match. The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder`s pace and direct running was one of the positives to come out of the match for Joachim Low and paddypower offer 13/5 for a Germany win with Bellarabi to score at any time during the match.

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Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (14/10/2014) but are subject to change.

14/10/2014     © Frixo 2024

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