6 days Ago By Betting Reporter
England will win promotion to League A of the Nations League by beating the Republic of Ireland. Find the latest match odds for England vs Ireland. All odds are provided by our best football betting sites .
Odds are subject to change. That was much more like it. Last month, England were deservedly beaten 2-1 by Greece at Wembley Stadium.
The appointment of Thomas Tuchel days later overshadowed the defeat, but it looked set to be a consequential one in the Nations League. With that loss, England ceded the initiative in the group to Greece, putting their promotion hopes in peril. But Lee Carsley’s team have now taken control once more thanks to a 3-0 victory in Athens on Thursday night.
England were poor in the first meeting between the teams in October, but they delivered a much more impressive display last time out. Ollie Watkins, a surprise starter up front ahead of Harry Kane, opened the scoring with just seven minutes on the clock, settling nerves in the process. England’s second, which came courtesy of a Odisseas Vlachodimos own goal after good work from Jude Bellingham, did not arrive until the 78th minute, before the excellent Curtis Jones made it 3-0 soon after.
Carsley, who will take charge of the senior side for the final time on Sunday, made some bold calls ahead of the Greece game. Already hit by eight withdrawals from the squad, the interim boss then proceeded to leave out his captain Kane and include the relatively untested Jones, Rico Lewis and Noni Madueke in his XI. Carsley’s brave decisions paid off, as England picked up the victory that has left them on the brink of securing promotion back to League A, from which they were relegated in 2022/23.
Because the Three Lions now lead Greece on the head-to-head record, they only need to match the latter’s result against Finland to finish top. A win here by any scoreline would confirm their place among the continent’s top 16 next time around. As for the Republic of Ireland, they are already guaranteed to finish third in the group, which means they will be taking part in the League B/League C promotion-relegation play-offs in March.
Ireland have at least avoided automatic relegation, though, having edged out Finland 1-0 on Thursday thanks to an Evan Ferguson goal on the stroke of half-time. England must win to guarantee promotion against a Republic of Ireland side with nothing to play for. The Republic of Ireland have now beaten Finland home and away, so they are clearly the third-best team in the group.
However, Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side have failed to score in their other three games so far. That sort of record bodes ill for a trip to Wembley, where Ireland have never won (although they did beat England at Goodison Park in 1949). Ireland were not exactly dominant against Finland on Thursday either.
Caoimhin Kelleher kept out a Finnish penalty and the visitors had other chances to score. Get the best free bet offers all season Claim Free Bets "Performance, some good, some bad and surely we were lucky - they hit the post twice and Caoimhin saved a penalty," Halgrimsson admitted. Unless England make a huge defensive error or an Irish player produces a moment of inspiration, it is difficult to see the hosts having their backline breached.
⚽ Tip England to win to nil 8/11 with Betfred ⚽ England will be looking to end the campaign on a high by moving on to 15 points from 18. It would have been a huge failure had the Three Lions failed to win promotion at the first time of asking, but they are now on course to finish top. England played with freedom and verve against Greece and we should see more of the same here.
The Republic of Ireland will set up in a compact and narrow defensive shape, but England have enough guile to break them down. The visitors also have nothing meaningful to play for, so their performance could lack intensity. A three-goal win is well within reach for England.
⚽ Go for England with a -2 handicap at 15/8 with Betfred ⚽ Because Tuchel has been appointed as England’s next permanent head coach, Carsley no doubt felt sufficiently free to make the huge call that Kane would be on the bench for the must-win game against Greece. Had the job still been up for grabs, Carsley would probably have just played it safe and started England’s all-time record scorer. His decision was vindicated when Watkins found the back of the net in the seventh minute, with Kane then entering the fray midway through the second half.
It would be a surprise if the Bayern Munich striker was left out for a second match running. Kane remains essential to England and he will be itching to make up for lost time on Sunday. The Republic of Ireland will have their work cut out in trying to keep Kane under wraps at Wembley.
⚽ Back Harry Kane to score any time at 4/5 with Betfred ⚽ Greg Lea Greg Lea is a freelance football writer from London. He predominantly covers the Premier League and has had work published by the Guardian, FourFourTwo, ESPN and others. Follow Greg on X: @GregLeaFootball Commercial content notice: Taking one of the bookmaker offers featured in this article may result in a payment to talkSPORT.
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