Goalkeeper

It’s been a frustrating opening to the season for Gavin Bazunu. His Southampton side have started reasonably — they are currently seventh in the table — but the Dubliner has conceded 12 goals from five games, more than any other goalkeeper in the Championship.

However, Saints boss Russell Martin recently backed Bazunu and Stephen Kenny is expected to do likewise.

Caoimhin Kelleher hasn’t been playing for Liverpool and though Mark Travers has been solid early on in his loan spell at Stoke City — playing in all five of their Championship matches — neither have done enough to warrant replacing their country’s regular number one.

Defence

Stephen Kenny has started with a backline of Nathan Collins, John Egan and Dara O’Shea for two of the three qualifiers so far.

The exception was the Greece game when O’Shea was still recovering from a knee injury and so Darragh Lenihan took his place in the team.

This time, Egan is the fitness doubt — he is due for a scan today — while Nathan Collins and Dara O’Shea are expected to retain their places in the first XI.

Kenny will hope to have the Sheffield United man available, but if not, who comes into the team in his place is uncertain.

It’s unlikely to be Andrew Omobamidele given that the second most expensive Irish player ever was not originally included in the squad, only to be belatedly called up on Sunday as cover for Egan.

That leaves Darragh Lenihan and Shane Duffy as the obvious alternatives. Lenihan might have the edge given that he started once already in this campaign, but the fact that Duffy is playing regular football again with Norwich, having spent a year largely on the sidelines at Fulham, means he will no doubt be in contention to feature. 

Wing-backs

Probably the toughest area of the team to predict. The two wing-backs who started the home France match, Seamus Coleman and Matt Doherty, are both unavailable through injury and suspension respectively.

At left wing-back, with Callum O’Dowda out due to a groin injury, it seems Kenny has to choose between James McClean, Ryan Manning and Enda Stevens. Manning’s club form has been the best of the three, having recently earned a move to Southampton on the back of an impressive spell at Swansea. Stevens has struggled with injury issues and game time in recent months, but after being released by Sheffield United, the 33-year-old has started all five Championship games this season at Stoke. James McClean made the surprise move to League Two outfit Wrexham in the off-season following Wigan’s relegation from the Championship.

It remains to be seen to what extent playing at a lower level impacts his status with Ireland, but in the short term, McClean is probably still favourite to start. He impressed in Ireland’s most recent match, registering two assists in the 3-0 win over Gibraltar, thereby celebrating his 100th cap in style.

By contrast, Manning has started just twice in the Kenny era — a Lithuania friendly and a Bulgaria Nations League match when the squad was decimated by Covid and injuries. Stevens, meanwhile, has played 11 times under the manager but has not featured since the 1-0 Nations League loss to Ukraine in June 2022.  

With Coleman and Doherty unavailable, Kenny’s options are especially thin on the right. The uncapped Festy Ebosele and Chiedozie Ogbene are two decent options, but Kenny has indicated he prefers both players in more attacking roles. 

That leaves Alan Browne, who is not a natural in the position but has impressed there in the past at both club and international level, notably keeping Andy Robertson relatively quiet during last year’s Nations League win over Scotland.

So he’s probably the favourite to start, given the other two players’ inexperience in the role at international level.

Midfield

An area where there are unlikely to be too many changes.

Jeff Hendrick has been fairly peripheral of late, and the 31-year-old has not played at all at club level this season, having just completed a Deadline Day loan move to Championship strugglers Sheffield Wednesday.

Similarly, Jamie McGrath has started just one Scottish Premiership match for Aberdeen, having only recently signed for the club following a disappointing spell at Wigan.

The 26-year-old did start Ireland’s last match against Gibraltar, but it would be somewhat of a surprise to see him retain his place against much higher-calibre opposition.

Instead, expect a similar midfield to the one that lined out in the reverse fixture against France.

Josh Cullen has played every minute of the Euros campaign thus far, in addition to starting all three of Burnley’s Premier League fixtures, so will almost certainly feature in Paris.

With France expected to dominate possession, the work-rate and energy provided by Jason Knight and Jayson Molumby will surely again be crucial.

Knight was missed when he was benched for the Greece game, and Gibraltar is the only qualifier that Molumby has not started, with the Bristol City man taking his place in the XI.

Will Smallbone only has three caps, but he has started the last two Ireland fixtures and may be given the nod again after some encouraging performances at club level with Stoke and more recently, Southampton. A recent injury he picked up is not as bad as initially feared and Smallbone was back in the Saints’ side for their 5-0 defeat by Sunderland at the weekend. However, by his own admission, the 23-year-old’s senior international career has yet to fully take off, and his creativity may be better utilised from the bench.

Alan Browne has started all five games for a Preston side currently top of the Championship and owing to this excellent form, has an outside chance of starting in midfield despite his two appearances in the campaign so far, against France and Gibraltar, coming from the bench.

Attack

Chiedozie Ogbene missed Ireland’s last two qualifiers through injury, and his absence was keenly felt in the 2-1 loss to Greece especially.

Given how well he played in the previous fixture against France — winning the player-of-the-match award — Kenny is expected to find a way to fit Ogbene into the starting XI again.

Presuming he is not needed at right wing-back, Ogbene will probably slot into a role just behind the striker and alongside Jason Knight, as was the case in Dublin.

Despite having won just six caps, Evan Ferguson already feels like an essential member of this team.

On the back of his phenomenal hat-trick for Brighton against Newcastle, it would be a major surprise if the 18-year-old didn’t start both the France and Netherlands games.

There are decent options in reserve too. Will Keane is currently the joint-top scorer in the Championship with four goals, while Aaron Connolly and Adam Idah have registered three and two respectively, despite both players only starting one out of five Championship matches so far this season.

Ireland XI: Gavin Bazunu; Nathan Collins, John Egan, Dara O’Shea; Alan Browne, James McClean; Josh Cullen, Jayson Molumby; Jason Knight, Chiedozie Ogbene; Evan Ferguson.