Republic of Ireland will be looking to record their first three points of their World Cup 2022 qualification campaign when they welcome Group A leaders Serbia to Dublin on Tuesday night.
Stephen Kenny's side will enter the match off the back of a 1-1 draw with Azerbaijan on Saturday, while Serbia moved to the top of the section courtesy of a 4-1 victory over Luxembourg.
Match preview
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Ireland came within a few minutes of suffering another Group A defeat on Saturday, as Emin Mahmudov's first-half strike saw Azerbaijan lead their World Cup qualifier entering the final exchanges of the clash in Dublin; Shane Duffy spared the home side's blushes with a late header, but there is no getting away from the fact that it was another disappointing result for Kenny's team.
The Boys in Green opened their qualifying campaign with back-to-back defeats to Serbia and Luxembourg in March before losing 2-1 to Portugal on Wednesday night, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two late goals for the home side to become the highest men's international goalscorer of all time.
The performance against Portugal was certainly encouraging, but a total of one point from four matches has left Kenny's side in fourth spot in the section, some nine points behind second-placed Portugal and leaders Serbia, which is an indication of the size of their task when it comes to qualifying for the 2022 competition.
Ireland will be back in action next month with a trip to Azerbaijan before finishing their Group A challenge in November, taking on Portugal at home before travelling to Luxembourg three days later.
ROI have never actually beaten Serbia, losing three and drawing three of their previous six meetings, but they impressed in the reverse match in the section back in March, only narrowly losing 3-2.
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Serbia, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of an impressive 4-1 win over Luxembourg on Saturday; Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice for Dragan Stojkovic's side, who sit at the top of Group A with 10 points to show from their opening four matches in the section.
The Eagles have been present in two of the last three World Cups but have been eliminated in the group stage on both occasions, losing two of their three matches at the 2018 competition.
Serbia are in an excellent position to claim either first or second in the group, as they are four points ahead of third-placed Luxembourg, and it will be fascinating to see whether Stojkovic's side can hold off Portugal at the top of the section.
The visitors opened their Group A campaign with a 3-2 win over Republic of Ireland on March 24 before sharing the points with Portugal in a 2-2 draw four days later.
Serbia have put two important wins on the board in their last two matches, though, recording a 2-1 victory over Azerbaijan on March 30 before thumping Luxembourg on Saturday.
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Team News
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Ireland will be without the services of Seamus Coleman for this match through injury, meaning that there could be a start in the back three for Andrew Omobamidele.
Conor Hourihane is pushing for a spot in the middle of the park, while Daryl Horgan replaced Aaron Connolly at the interval of the match against Azerbaijan and that change could now occur ahead of kickoff here.
Adam Idah is again expected to lead the line for the home side, while Duffy, John Egan and Omobamidele are likely to operate as the back three for Kenny's side despite Cyrus Christie's call up.
As for Serbia, Mitrovic made it seven goals in his last four appearances for the national team when he scored twice against Luxembourg, and the 26-year-old will again lead the line on Tuesday.
Head coach Stojkovic does not have any injury concerns at this stage, and it would not be a surprise to see the same starting XI from Saturday's 4-1 success.
As a result, Lazio's Sergej Milinkovic-Savic should again feature in an advanced area for the Eagles, while Dusan Tadic and Nemanja Gudelj are certain starters on Tuesday night.
Republic of Ireland possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Omobamidele, Duffy, Egan; Doherty, Hourihane, Cullen, McClean; Parrott, Idah, Horgan
Serbia possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Milenkovic, Nastasic, Pavlovic; Lazovic, Lukic, Gudelj, Kostic; Tadic, Mitrovic, Milinkovic-Savic
We say: Republic of Ireland 1-2 Serbia
Ireland have not qualified for a World Cup since 2002, and it is difficult to imagine them progressing through this section. Serbia have scored 11 times in their four matches in the group to sit at the summit, and we are expecting the visitors to put another three points on the board 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 Serbia win with a probability of 36.76%. A win for Republic of Ireland had a probability of 32.74% and a draw had a probability of 30.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Serbia win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.8%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (7.29%) and 1-2 (7.13%). The likeliest Republic of Ireland win was 1-0 (12.79%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.51%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.5% likelihood.
