Republic of Ireland host Serbia in Dublin, with the home side in desperate need of a win against the Group A leaders. Liam Kelly previews the World Cup qualifier.
Having reached the halfway stage of Group A, Republic of Ireland are in an extremely precarious position, remaining winless in their four matches.
After gaining their first point of the campaign at the weekend, they sit nine points behind Tuesday's opponents Serbia, who top the group following an impressive start.
Kick-off time: 19:45 BST, Tuesday
TV Channel: Sky Sports Football
As encouraging as Republic of Ireland's harsh 2-1 defeat to Portugal last week was, Saturday's 1-1 draw with Azerbaijan was just as discouraging.
Stephen Kenny's side required a late header from Shane Duffy to secure what was still a disappointing result; a trend that has continued under their current manager.
Often thought of as a very defensive team, ROI have been a little more expansive with Kenny at the helm, and they will need to push for a win to have any chance of qualifying for the World Cup.
Serbia are more than capable of taking advantage of the extra space that they should be afforded, though.
Dragan Stojkovic's men followed up three good results in spring with an impressive 4-1 win on Saturday. After all, beating a much-improved Luxembourg is not the formality it once was. Republic of Ireland can attest to that.
They have attacked with flair throughout, too, scoring 11 times in their four qualifying fixtures. Given their opponents are in desperate need of a win, I can see the tendency of high-scoring matches involving Serbia continuing here.
OVER 2.5 GOALS appears to be good value at odds-against (11/8) considering the likelihood of this match becoming an open affair.
The reverse fixture was also a very entertaining match-up, with Serbia claiming a narrow victory in a five-goal thriller. Hopefully we're in for another exciting game.
Republic of Ireland v Serbia best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Over 2.5 Goals at 11/8 (Sky Bet)
Score prediction: Republic of Ireland 1-3 Serbia (Sky Bet odds: 17/2)
Odds correct at 1700 BST (06/09/21)
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