Republic of Ireland face a Euro qualifying warm-up against Latvia in Dublin, with Stephen Kenny looking for a confidence boost ahead of a tougher test with France.
Republic of Ireland vs Latvia: Wednesday, 7:45pm
Suggested bets
- Republic of Ireland vs Latvia under 2.5 goals
- Republic of Ireland to win to nil
Key stats
- The Republic of Ireland have never lost to Latvia
- Ireland boast a perfect record against Latvia with five wins from five games, scoring 14 goals and conceding one
Verdict
Stephen Kenny has won just eight of his 30 games in charge of the Republic – but he was appointed in April 2020 with a view to a longer-term improvement and the next 12 months will be crucial.
He faces an unenviable task in the Euro qualifiers, though, with France, Netherlands and Greece in his group. And while a lot of his thoughts will be on the France game next Monday, he will want to get a win under his belt against Latvia.
Kenny has overseen a 3-0 win over Scotland and creditable draws with Portugal and Belgium have shown just what his young side are capable of.
But there have been some low points too with defeats to Armenia and Luxembourg making Kenny public enemy number one in the Emerald Isle at the time.
Latvia (133rd) are a nation on the up but they are still ranked way below Ireland (44th) and there are still levels to the game at international level.
Latvia are also preparing for their European Championship qualifier against Wales next week – and after a pretty well regarded draw with Iceland, they will fancy their chances in Dublin.
They did top their Nations League Group, gaining promotion to League C with 13 points from six games, including wins over Liechtenstein, Andorra and Moldova.
It’s hardly a CV that will have Evan Ferguson and Co shaking in their boots. Although Ferguson may start on the bench having scored twice for Brighton against Grimsby on Sunday.
Goals have not flowed for Ireland of late and they have scored more than once just three times in their last 10 games. And with a number of new faces likely to be on show, it might not be the landslide victory the home fans are hoping for.
