Kick-off: 1945, 14/11/2021
Stadium: Stade de Luxembourg
TV: Sky Sports
Losing at home to Luxembourg was the low point of Ireland’s World Cup qualifying campaign and they will be keen to claim revenge.
The Republic have produced some far more encouraging results recently and are taken to put the record straight in this Group A finale.
Punters can get 23/20 for an away win and that is our first Luxembourg vs Republic of Ireland prediction.
Luxembourg’s Odds
Luxembourg can be reasonably pleased with their efforts in this pool, currently lying in third place behind the clear top two of Portugal and Serbia.
Since shading Ireland 1-0 in Dublin via an 88th-minute Gerson Rodrigues decider back in March, they have also beaten Azerbaijan twice.
Rodrigues was again on target from the penalty spot in September’s 2-1 success at this venue after Mica Pinto had broken the deadlock.
Troyes forward Rodrigues took his tally of international goals to 12 from 41 caps with a brace in Baku on Thursday night, with Sebastien Thill netting the other in a 3-1 victory.
Thill also scored for his Moldovan club side Sheriff in Champions League games against Real Madrid and Inter Milan, so Luxembourg do have an attacking threat.
Even so, that just points us towards Luxembourg vs Republic of Ireland odds.
Republic of Ireland’s Odds
Ireland boss Stephen Kenny looked in trouble after suffering the Luxembourg defeat and then only just scrambling a 1-1 draw with Azerbaijan at Aviva Stadium.
However, the men in green have since put in three much-improved performances to ease the pressure on their head coach.
Taking a point off Serbia on home turf took spirit and Azerbaijan were then thumped 3-0 in Baku, with Callum Robinson hitting a double.
Thursday’s goalless stalemate with a star-studded Portugal side in Dublin was another gutsy effort and enhanced the view that Ireland are going in the right direction.
Brighton defender Shane Duffy, who won his 50th cap on the night, said of Kenny: “I think Stephen’s brilliant.
“He had a tough start with the whole Covid [situation] and players dropping out, and that resulted in results not going our way.
“But if you don’t think we’re going in a positive way, you’re writing the wrong stuff.
“We’re all going in the right direction. There’s a difference in the football we’re playing. Fans are excited about it.
“For me, I think it’s obvious we love playing under him. We’re all fighting for him. Even during the hard situation there at the start, we were still fighting for him.”
The point they added to their tally means Ireland can finish third if they win in Luxembourg.
Duffy added: “That’s the first thing the manager said after. We all know the disappointments at the start of the group, we didn’t perform well enough, but we want to finish the group as strong as we can.
“Going to Luxembourg to win is the aim and that’s what we want to do. In the last four, five games, we have taken a step forward, the team has grown in confidence.”
Let’s finish off our Luxembourg vs Republic of Ireland betting tips by taking 33/4 for a 2-1 away win.
Additional stats
Last result:
Azerbaijan 1-3 LUXEMBOURG – Rodrigues (2), S Thill
IRELAND 0-0 Portugal
Head-to-head: Ireland 0-1 Luxembourg, Ireland 2-1 Luxembourg, Luxembourg 0-2 Ireland
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