This is an Ireland predicted lineup and the latest team news for their friendly with North Macedonia. This is a rather sombre affair as both sides lost semi-final ties in the World Cup play-off and now have to face off in a match that most fans would rather forget. This is particularly true of the Irish squad who squandered a 2-0 lead in Czechia to lose on penalties. We’re going to predict and hope for an experimental lineup that sets up the Euro’s campaign effectively.
Ireland Predicted Lineup vs North Macedonia
How The Republic of Ireland Have Lined Up Recently
Caomhin Kelleher has been the number one goalkeeper for some time. Jake O’Brien, Nathan Collins, and Dara O’Shea have been trusted as the main back three of a five. Liam Scales and Seamus Coleman are the preferred wing-backs with Ryan Manning as a possible option to offer rest.
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In midfield, the main duo in the middle is Jayson Molumby with either Jack Taylor or Josh Cullen. Finn Azaz operates as an 8/10 hybrid with Chiedozie Ogbene and Troy Parrott as the main striking duo for OOP work.
Ireland Recent Form & Tactics
Heimir Hallgrímsson sets his team up in the 3-4-2-1/3-5-2 setup that is being utilised across Europe by teams like Brentford, Wrexham, and others to good results. It allows the team a striking duo to chase long-balls and press out of possession, the wing-backs offer width while the back three, in theory, offers stability but can also ship a lot of goals when under pressure.
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After a miraculous run of wins that saw the Boys in Green sneak into the World Cup play-offs, they suffered a crushing defeat to Czechia in the semi-final. The big issue is their defending, they let in two goals to Hungary and Czechia, they had a good run of scoring goals that got them through but their midfield and attack can’t be trusted to score three goals in every outing.
Ireland Team News
After being suspended, Scales is back available for this one. Robbie Brady is unavailable after coming on as a substitute, Sammy Szmodics is injured, as is Taylor. Portsmouth man Millanic Ali has been called in as the sole injury replacement.
There will likely be some fatigue after playing 120 minutes just a few days ago so harder workers like Coleman, Manning, or Ogbene could be rested. Particularly, there is one eye on who could replace Coleman as the regular wing-back on the right flank so we could see some interesting selections here.
Republic of Ireland Predicted Lineup vs Macedonia
GK – Caoimhin Kelleher
WB – Liam Scales
CB – Nathan Collins
CB – James Abankwah
CB – Jimmy Dunne
WB – Alan Browne
CM – Jason Knight
CM – Jayson Molumby
CM/AM – Harvey Vale
AM/ST – Millenic Alli
ST – Adam Idah
Featured Image Credits
IMAGO / Inpho Photography
