Mexico vs Republic of Ireland
The World Cup qualifiers are round the corner again, and Ireland are heading off for a testing warm up on the US east coast against Mexico.
The Ireland rugby boys had a shock at the weekend when Munster lost the Guinness Pro 12 to Scarlets, so it’s the turn of the football stars to get the Irish singing again. And there’ll be plenty of support in New Jersey for Martin O’Neill’s men.
Our Asian Handicap Betting shows the size of the task, pitching Mexico at 2.11 with a -1.00 handicap while Ireland are at 1.82 with that advantage. The draw is at 3.65.
While it is a friendly, O’Neill will want to see his team in the right frame of mind while giving fringe players an opportunity. And crucially, Brighton defender Shane Duffy, having been out since March with a foot fracture, looks likely to be ready for the qualifier against Austria on June 12. The coach may well give him a run out at the New Jersey MetLife Stadium.
If so, Duffy will make a welcome return against a speedy Mexico attack led by the Bayer Leverkusen superstar Chicharito, who became his nation’s record scorer recently after netting his 47th international goal in a shock 2-1 defeat to Croatia. Real Sociedad striker Carlos Vela also climbed off the bench in that game and could feature again this week.
Ireland are currently joint top of Group D with Serbia, and some of O’Neill’s senior players will join the squad next week which presents an opportunity for fringe players and hopefuls. Skipper Robbie Brady and Burnley team-mate Jeff Hendrick are absent, which could present and opportunity for Aston Villa’s Conor Hourihane to get some game time.
And West Brom’s fiercely competitive and patriotic midfielder, James McClean, has been drafted into the squad. So there’ll be no shortage of passion in New Jersey!
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
