Monday night sees an absolutely huge World Cup Qualifier taking place at Cardiff City Stadium between Wales and Republic of Ireland in a winner takes all clash. These two sides currently sit in 2nd and 3rd place in Group D and are separated by just a single point. The group is still wide open following Serbia’s defeat to Austria in their last game and a win for either side on Monday night could see them finish top should Serbia fail to beat Georgia.
When: 7:45PM, Monday, October 9th, 2017
Where: Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
Wales come into the game off the back of a hard fought 1-0 victory away at Georgia. Tom Lawrence scored a stunning second half goal to Chris Coleman’s side the victory on a nervy night out in Georgia. Meanwhile, Republic of Ireland cruised to a 2-0 win against Moldova to keep the pressure on their close neighbours and take it to the final game. The atmosphere is sure to be electric on Monday night, with both sides surely having to go for the victory to ensure their place in at least the playoffs.
Team News
Wales will again be without their talisman, Gareth Bale, as the Real Madrid forward continues his rehabilitation from the calf strain that has kept him out of recent matches. The likes of Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen will be expected to stand up and be counted in his absence and manager Chris Coleman has no fresh injury worries heading into the game.
Republic of Ireland also have a clean bill of health heading into the game, with no fresh injury concerns having arisen in the build up to the game. Seamus Coleman remains a long term absentee with the Everton defender continuing his rehabilitation from the injury which ended his season last time around.
Prediction
It’s sure to be a tense, tight affair on Monday night between two sides who have it all to gain and all to lose. Wales are unbeaten in qualifying but have drawn too many games, whilst consistency has been an issue for the Republic of Ireland. Gareth Bale is obviously a huge miss for Wales and the Real Madrid star is by far and away the best player in the group. I can’t see Wales losing this one though and I wouldn’t be surprised to see yet another draw here.
Betting Preview – Ladbrokes
Wales start the game as 11/10 favourites to pick up a win, whilst an away win for Republic of Ireland is priced up at 13/5 and the draw is 11/5. That 11/5 available on the draw looks like a very good bet to me, especially when you consider that Wales have drawn five of their nine games so far in qualifying. The Welsh know that a draw is all they need to secure 2nd spot in the group and manager Chris Coleman may set his team up to avoid losing, rather than winning.
Draw – 21/10 (Ladbrokes)