Contending team Republic of Ireland (0-0-1, 1 point) and lowly squad Georgia (0-1-0, 0 points) are set to meet at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Thursday, October 6 as the 2018 FIFA World Cup UEFA qualifying tournament continues.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 7:45 p.m. UTC+1. It can be viewed live Online Thru FuboTV.
Republic of Ireland was held to a 2-2 draw by FIFA's 50th-ranked team Serbia on the road at the Red Star Stadium in Belgrade on Sep. 5 to open their World Cup qualifiers campaign on a low note, as per Reuters.
Burnley midfielder Jeff Hendrick opened the scoring right at the third minute of the match and the Green Army was able to hold on to the one-point lead up until the halftime break.
However, Serbia clawed back into the match as the hosts scored two quick goals in succession at the 62nd and 69th minutes with left winger Filip Kostic and attacking midfielder Dusan Tadic respectively netting one goal each, giving the Eagles a 2-1 advantage.
The Boys in Green was able to find the equalizer with 10 minutes remaining before full time courtesy of a shot from Newcastle United striker Daryl Murphy. Murphy will not be available in this match versus Georgia due to injury.
Meanwhile, 137th-ranked Georgia dropped a sorry 1-2 game against 26th-ranked Austria at their home stadium of Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi also on Sep. 5 in their own tournament-opener, SBS reported.
Austria raced to a 2-0 lead with first half goals from Augsburg defender Martin Hinteregger and Basel striker Marc Janko at the 16th and 42nd minutes.
Georgia held the visitors scoreless in the second half, though, but head coach Vladimír Weiss' squad managed just one goal, a shot by Spartak Moscow midfielder Jano Ananidze, to come up short in their comeback bid.
Republic of Ireland is one of the best teams in the tournament as they are ranked 31st in the world by FIFA. However, Georgia can pull off an upset if head coach Martin O'Neill's men will be overconfident.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 2-0 victory for Republic of Ireland.
Republic of Ireland starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Randolph; Coleman, O'Shea, Keogh, Ward; Hendrick, Whelan, Brady; Walters, Long, McClean
Georgia starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Loria; Lobjanidze, Kvirkvelia, Dvali, Navalovski; Daushvili, Kashia; Jighauri, Ananidze, Dvalishvili; Kazaishvili