Republic of Ireland vs Wales. FIFA World Cup European Qualifying Group D.
Aviva StadiumAttendance49,989.
Friday 24 March 2017 20:42, UK
Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill has been hit by multiple injuries ahead of Friday's World Cup Qualifier with Wales live on Sky Sports.
Daryl Murphy, Shane Duffy, Wes Hoolahan, Ciaran Clark and Harry Arter have all withdrawn during the latest set of international fixtures, giving the former Leicester and Aston Villa boss a slight selection headache.
However, O'Neill is confident that the players he has at his disposal can compete with Wales and maintain the Republic of Ireland's unbeaten start to qualification along with their place at the top of the table.
"We've lost a couple of big players, but we have players that can come in, that want to come in, and want to be a part of it," he told a pre-match press conference.
Wales have drawn their last three games in Group D and currently sit in third place - four points off the Republic of Ireland in first.
But Coleman is confident Wales will draw on their Euro 2016 success to silence a passionate Dublin crowd on Friday night.
"They're at a great age and very much together. Whatever pressure people put on them for this game is up to them, but I won't be doing that because I trust them.
"Why do I trust them? Because of what they're done, I'm not worried what we're up against."
Robbie Brady will miss Friday's game at the Aviva Stadium through suspension, although some good news for the Republic of Ireland is that James McCarthy looks set to be available after a hamstring worry.
For Wales, Gareth Bale is expected to start after overcoming his own injury problems in recent months with plenty of attention on how the hosts will stop the Real Madrid forward.
17-year-old Ben Woodburn has also been called up to the Wales squad for the first time and could be in line to make his debut on Friday, just four months after his first senior appearance for Liverpool.
Republic of Ireland are unbeaten in their last six internationals against Wales (W3 D3), keeping clean sheets in four of the last five encounters.
These two nations haven't met in a competitive fixture since Euro 2008 qualifying in 2007 with Ireland winning the home game 1-0 and drawing 2-2 in Cardiff.
Wales' last win against the Republic of Ireland came in February 1992, thanks to a Mark Pembridge winner in a 1-0 victory in Dublin.
The Boys in Green are unbeaten in their last 14 home internationals at the Aviva Stadium (W9 D5).
In fact, the Green Army have won each of their last four home Qualifiers, their best run since September 1999 (four successive victories).
Wales have lost only one of their last seven Qualifiers on the road (W3 D3), losing to Bosnia-Herzegovina in October 2015, although they had already qualified for Euro 2016.
Jonathan Walters has scored six goals in his last seven home games for the Republic of Ireland, including four of their last six goals in Qualifiers at the Aviva.
Gareth Bale has scored four goals in four World Cup Qualifying matches so far, however all these goals have come in Cardiff.
The Welsh superstar has bagged 17 goals in his last 23 Qualifiers for the Dragons and is now just two goals away from levelling with Ian Rush as Wales' all-time top goalscorer (28 goals).
Group D leaders Republic of Ireland go into the game as Sky Bet's 6/4 favourites with Wales on offer at 23/10 and a draw 2/1. Real Madrid ace Gareth Bale is the undoubted star of the show and he is a 4/1 chance to open the scoring for the visitors in Dublin while his price to score from outside of the area has been boosted to 10/1 from 9/1. Jon Walters is 5/1 to break the deadlock for Ireland and the Stoke frontman can be backed at 14/1 (was 12/1) to score with a header.
