THE GENERAL CONSENSUS seems to be that Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland have it all to do in order to qualify for Russia in 2018.
Group D is certainly competitive and with only the top team going through automatically, each match-day is set to be pretty intriguing – not least what happens this evening.
With the Irish side facing into a tricky opener in Belgrade, their group opponents are all in action too.
Could the well-regarded Austria and in-form Wales stumble in their opening assignments?
Georgia v Austria (5pm)
As Ireland know only too well, Tbilisi is a difficult place to go. And for an Austrian side that capitulated so badly at Euro 2016, this fixture may conjure an early surprise.
From Austria’s last six games, they’ve won just once. In France, they lost to Hungary and Iceland and were eliminated at the group stages, despite being seen as a dark horse before the tournament. Ominously, coach Marcel Koller has been speaking about the need to bring younger players through to the senior side, with many established players now inching towards their 30s.
The attention will be focused on David Alaba, as usual, while Marko Arnautovic is always a threat. They have lost Christian Fuchs, though, as he retired after his summer exploits.
The question is: was the European Championship just an inexplicable blip or are there deeper issues within Austria group?
Georgia don’t have many household names but they showed some resolute defending to beat Spain in a warm-up game in June though hadn’t won a game before that since the previous October.
However, a quick glance at their Euro 2016 campaign tells you quite a bit. They beat Scotland at home and pushed them close when they visited Glasgow. They were a handful for the Irish in Tbilisi and frustrated them for long periods in Dublin while they held their own for long periods against Germany.
Wales v Moldova (7.45pm)
Understandably, Wales are riding the crest of a wave since their summer heroics. But will they inevitably pay for just how unexpected it all was? Did Chris Coleman’s side exist in perfect storm, pushed delightfully off their regular course? Is it impossible to try and recreate what happened to the team in France?
More than likely. But Wales were much different in Euro 2016 qualifying than in the final tournament. They scored 11 goals in 10 qualifiers – certainly not the free-flowing side we saw spectacularly upset Belgium. But they only conceded four and they managed four clean-sheets on home soil.
So, in group situations, they’re not exactly prolific. And that’s where Moldova may be able to find a way through.
They haven’t conceded more than two goals in a game for three years. That’s 29 matches. And even though they’ve lost 17 of them, 13 were by a single goal.
Yes, they’ll have minnow status but going by form, this game should be pretty tight.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
