Prediction and odds for the game: England (1/3) v Republic of Ireland (17/2)

We are backing the home win

When: Thursday, 12th November 2020, Kick-off 20:00

Where: Wembley

On Thursday night, England host the Republic of Ireland at Wembley in what could be a fascinating international friendly.

England

The Three Lions have experienced a slightly mixed recent run of form on the international stage. However, Gareth Southgate’s team has been hard to beat of late, as a 1-0 home defeat against Denmark last time out ended a run of seven games without defeat, six of which England had won.

The game saw a rarity of late, England conceding a goal, as the home team has now kept clean sheets in six of their previous eight matches. The home side has also scored at least two goals in five of their last eight international outings.

Everybody connected with the home team will hope that the defeat against Denmark was just a slight blip, as Southgate’s team had won their previous nine games at Wembley before the loss.

England have seen Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Ward-Prowse withdrew from the squad due to injury. Southampton’s in-form striker Danny Ings also misses out through injury. Dortmund youngster Jude Bellingham has received his first call-up following a superb start to his career with BVB in the Bundesliga.

Republic of Ireland

The visitors head to the English capital on a poor run of form. Stephen Kenny’s team have failed to win in six competitive outings, picking up four draws and suffering two defeats. However, in that run of games was a penalty kick defeat against Slovakia in the European Championships semi-final play-off.

One of the biggest factors in Ireland’s poor recent run has been their struggle for goals, as the visitors have failed to score in any of their last four matches. The five forwards in the Ireland squad have scored just two goals between, which represents a major problem for Kenny and his team.

A record of just one victory from their previous 13 internationals on their travels is a poor one. Once again their biggest issue away from home is not scoring enough goals, as they have scored just once in their previous five games on their travels, failing to score on four occasions. A lack of goals has contributed to Ireland’s last nine away matches producing under 2.5 goals.

Conclusion

On paper, there is a wide gulf in quality between these two teams. We cannot look anywhere other than the home win in this clash, which we are backing. Despite England being relatively prolific at Wembley in recent years, we are taking a punt on under 2.5 goals. One of the biggest reasons is Ireland complete lack of firepower. England’s defence has been pretty good of late too.

Verdict: We are backing the home win at odds of 1/3 and/or under 2.5 goals scored at odds of 43/40. (All odds are taken from Bet365).

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