Ireland predicted team v Greece and five facts ahead of Nations League clash

Ireland are looking for back-to-back competitive away wins for the first time in almost three years.

Heimir Hallgrímsson has some big calls to make as he bids to steer Ireland to back-to-back competitive away wins for the first time since Stephen Kenny’s Ireland recorded a pair of 3-0 wins - in Azerbaijan in October 2021 and in Luxembourg a month later.

The new Ireland head coach is unlikely to go with the same 11 tonight that started in last Thursday’s 2-1 win away to Finland, with some big calls to be made ahead of kick-off.

Does he start again with Evan Ferguson? Or does either one of Troy Parrott or Adam Idah get the nod up-front? Will Chiedozie Ogbene’s below-par performance in Helsinki cost him, particularly in light of his replacement Festy Ebosele’s match-winning role? Does he stick with a back-four or revert to three centre-halves? And is there room for Jayson Molumby, who started on the bench three days ago?

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Hallgrímsson admitted that Parrott impressed when he came on against Finland - and he added that he could see the AZ Alkmaar striker feature in the same 11 as Ferguson.

The Ireland boss added: “He (Parrott) did well, he did what we expected of him, he's a forward that really wants to get goals, he is willing to make the runs in behind. (He is) a little bit different from, for example, Evan in the way he plays, so there will be moments when he will be needed.

“There will be teams that probably fit him better than others, it's always who we are playing against and how we think the game will be played. What he did was good, maybe a little bit over-ambitious at times but he came in with a lot of energy and that's what we want. When we put in substitutes we want them to change the game.”

He added that Watford’s on-loan wing-back Ebosele impressed.

“Of course it gets you thinking if something is successful and a player comes in and makes a difference,” he said. “That puts seeds in your head and makes you think he's a good option, he did really well the minutes he was on the pitch.”

As for whether he would ever consider playing Ferguson and Parrott in the same starting-11, Hallgrímsson replied: “Sure, I can see that.”

He’s unlikely to see it tonight, however.

One thing is for sure, Luton Town defender Mark McGuinness won’t feature as he has been sent back to his club after failing to recover from an ankle injury.

“Mark McGuinness is not ready to play so we decided with Luton just to send him home,” said Hallgrímsson. “We expected him to be ready for this game and it’s not like a big injury, he will most definitely make it for Luton at the weekend. And just for the club’s sake as well, we decided to send him home and decided not to bring in a player at such short notice.

“Otherwise everyone is fit and ready. Normally a win will help recover you a bit quicker than not. Everyone is ready and wants to play this game.”

Here is our predicted starting-11 against Greece - and we are going for a similar formation (4-2-3-1) with just two changes (Festy Ebosele in for Chiedozie Ogbene and Adam Idah in for Evan Ferguson):

• Caoimhin Kelleher -- Dara O’Shea, Nathan Collins, Liam Scales, Robbie Brady -- Josh Cullen, Jason Knight -- Festy Ebosele, Finn Azaz, Sammie Szmodics -- Adam Idah

Five facts

• Aged just 32, Dutch referee Joey Kooij is taking charge of his FIRST senior international match. He was previously fourth official for games between Belgium and Burkina Faso, Sweden and Austria, and Denmark and Switzerland. However, Shamrock Rovers fans might remember him from their recent 2-0 Champions League defeat to Sparta Prague, as he was the man in the middle that night.

• Greece are unbeaten in their six previous games against Ireland - and scoring goals against them has been problematic too, with the hosts managing to keep five clean sheets across their matches against the Boys in Green. Ireland’s current run of four consecutive defeats to Greece is their worst record against another country since they lost six-in-a-row to Italy between 1926 and 1992.

• With just one defeat in their last 12 home matches across all competitions, Greece have developed a reputation as a formidable host. Only the Netherlands in October of last year have managed to beat them in that time.

• Ireland have won just four of their last 14 competitive matches, losing nine and drawing the other. The Boys in Green are looking to win consecutive competitive matches for the first time since March 2019 when they beat Gibraltar and Georgia, both by a 1-0 scoreline.

• Robbie Brady has been directly involved in more goals for Ireland in the Nations League than any other player (2 goals, 3 assists), with Brady both scoring and providing an assist in Thursday’s 2-1 win over Finland.

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