Republic of Ireland will be looking to round off their World Cup 2022 qualification campaign on a positive note when they make the trip to Luxembourg on Sunday night.
Stephen Kenny's side, who are fourth in Group A, will enter the contest off the back of a goalless draw with Portugal, while third-placed Luxembourg recorded a 3-1 victory away to Azerbaijan.
Match preview
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Luxembourg have never qualified for the finals of a World Cup and that wait will continue until at least the 2026 tournament, with the Red Lions third in Group A, some eight points behind second-placed Serbia.
The national team can be delighted with their campaign to date, though, as it has been their best ever World Cup qualification attempt, winning three of their seven matches, collecting nine points in the process.
Luxembourg recorded a 1-0 win away to Republic of Ireland when the two teams met in the reverse match back in March, while they have also overcome Azerbaijan home and away to put nine points on the board.
Luc Holtz's side had actually been on a three-game losing run in the section ahead of Thursday's clash with Azerbaijan but managed to record a 3-1 victory in Baku, with the visitors scoring three times in the final 23 minutes through Gerson Rodrigues (two) and Sebastien Thill.
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Republic of Ireland, meanwhile, will enter the match off the back of a goalless draw with Portugal on Thursday, with the result proving enough for Fernando Santos's side to move to the top of the group.
Kenny's team can take plenty of encouragement from their performance in Dublin, and the Boys in Green will now be looking to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to six matches.
ROI's last defeat was the 2-1 loss in Portugal on September 1, but back-to-back home draws with Azerbaijan and Serbia on September 4 and September 7 respectively cost them the chance to seriously challenge for either first or second position in the group.
Republic of Ireland are currently fourth in the section, collecting six points from their seven matches, and their wait to qualify for their first World Cup since 2002 will go on.
A positive result on Sunday would at least give the team's supporters something to cheer, though, and strengthen calls for Kenny to be handed a new contract, with the manager's existing deal due to expire next July.
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Team News
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Luxembourg will have to assess the fitness of Yvandro Borges Sanches, who was replaced in the early stages of the second half against Azerbaijan, but the home side are otherwise in excellent shape heading into this match.
Head coach Holtz will be determined to end the campaign on a positive note, so it would be a surprise to see wholesale changes, although Sebastien Thill, who has impressed for Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League this season, is pushing to come into the starting side.
Gerson Rodrigues, who is currently on loan at Troyes from Dynamo Kiev, scored twice on Thursday night, and the 26-year-old is again expected to lead the line for Luxembourg.
As for the Republic of Ireland, there are expected to be at least a couple of changes to the side that took to the field against Portugal on Thursday night.
Indeed, Adam Idah could replace Jamie McGrath in the final third, while Conor Hourihane could come in for Jeff Hendrick in the middle of the park.
Like Holtz, ROI boss Kenny will want to end the campaign on a positive note, so wholesale changes are unlikely, with Seamus Coleman, Matt Doherty, Shane Duffy and John Egan all set to retain their spots.
Luxembourg possible starting lineup:
Schon; Jans, Chanot, Carlson, Pinto; S Thill, Barreiro, Martins, O Thill, Deville; Rodrigues
Republic of Ireland possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Coleman, Duffy, Egan; Doherty, Hourihane, Cullen, Stevens; Ogbene, Robinson, Idah
We say: Luxembourg 1-1 Republic of Ireland
Luxembourg have shown a lot of improvement in this qualification campaign and will fancy their chances of recording another win over Republic of Ireland on Sunday. Kenny's side will have been boosted by their point against Portugal, though, and we can see the two teams playing out a low-scoring draw here.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Republic of Ireland win with a probability of 47.75%. A draw had a probability of 28.8% and a win for Luxembourg had a probability of 23.44%.
The most likely scoreline for a Republic of Ireland win was 0-1 with a probability of 15.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.18%) and 1-2 (8.25%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.79%), while for a Luxembourg win it was 1-0 (9.93%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 4.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Republic of Ireland would win this match.
