Football betting tips: World Cup play-offs
1pt Republic of Ireland to win at 3/1 (bet365)
0.5pt Jake O'Brien 1+ assists at 16/1 (Paddy Power)
0.5pt to score anytime at 16/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)
0.5pt Dara O'Shea 1+ assists at 18/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes)
0.5pt to score anytime at 16/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)
0.5pt Nathan Collins 1+ assists at 20/1 (Coral, Ladbrokes)
0.5pt to score anytime at 16/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power)
0.5pt John Egan 1+ assists at 22/1 (Betway)
0.5pt to score anytime at 16/1 (General)
*All bets 90 mins
Troy Parrott should never have to buy a drink in Ireland again.
The former Tottenham striker, now playing in the Netherlands for AZ, sent the Emerald Isle into pandemonium with a 96th-minute winner in Budapest to seal his hat-trick and clinch a World Cup play-off place.
That comeback victory was remarkable enough but the Irish were down and out midway through qualifying having drawn at home to Hungary and lost away to Armenia and Portugal. Three successive wins, including a 2-0 triumph over Portugal where Parrott was again the hero with both goals, sets up this meeting with the Czech Republic.
All the momentum is with the visitors, making the 3/1 about an IRELAND WIN worth backing.
The Czechs, on the other hand, suffered some mightily embarrassing results in qualifying as they lost to the, admittedly improved, Faroe Islands and were thrashed 5-1 by Croatia. In recent friendlies they were also held 1-1 at home by Saudi Arabia and could only manage a 1-0 win over San Marino.
It makes sense to oppose their odds-on favouritism.
There is reason to believe this is no Luck of the Irish, with their upturn sustainable.
It's taken a while to turn around a team in dire straits but Heimir Hallgrimsson has managed it, and just like during his time as Iceland boss there has been a huge reliance on defensive solidity and attacking set-pieces.
While their last five goals were all scored by Parrott, and all nine in qualifying came from strikers - Evan Ferguson (3) Adam Idah (1) - defenders NATHAN COLLINS, DARA O'SHEA and Liam Scales (suspended) all played key roles as providers, contributing four ASSISTS between them.
Fit-again Everton man JAKE O'BRIEN, another physically imposing centre-back, is expected to start in the back-three for this contest.
The trio are between 16/1 and 20/1 for 1+ ASSISTS and taking small stakes to cover all three is advised.
As is the 16/1 on them TO SCORE ANYTIME.
Given the focus Halgrimsson puts on dead-ball situations it feels reasonable that he may tweak the plan at set-pieces to have centre-backs as goal threats so they avoid being too predictable.
There are a couple of firms going much bigger than the rest (5/4) and offering 1+ shots for Collins and O'Shea (both had seven at 1.17 shots per 90 in six qualifiers) but in a match where it's nigh on impossible to predict the flow of the game I'd prefer to take a big swing to small stakes instead.
Although he only played four minutes in qualifying, experienced Hull defender JOHN EGAN was on pre-match media duties this week after earning a recall.
With Scales - who despite being a centre-back has been used as a left wing-back by Halgrimsson - banned and O'Brien a very capable full-back I'll also include Egan in the staking plan in case the Icelandic coach goes with all four in his line-up, potentially using O'Brien as a right wing-back.
For the purposes of this preview I want to make sure they're all covered, but for the purposes of your own money keep an eye on team news and if you're not betting with a firm that automatically voids a player on the bench then make sure to cash-out.
Just watch QPR centre-half Jimmy Dunne get the nod, score first and provide an assist...
Odds correct at 11:30 GMT (25/3/26)
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