Live on RTE2 and sky.

19.45 ko. 

On the whole, the team picks itself and if they turn in two decent performances over the next two days, I think the start to the Kenny era will have been deemed to be fruitful.

Coleman                                                            Doherty

                  Cullen                   Hendrick

                          McGrath

            Robinson                    Idah

Roughly how I think we'll line up. Although Kenny has thrown up some surprising selections in games so who knows. Robinson might have a fairly free role compared to Idah

I didn't realise he's back starting, great to see it 

Stevens and Egan in patchy form at club level by all accounts.

Can't wait to go and if I recall is this the first sell out event of any kind since the pandemic ?

Why can't he start back to back games?

The issue with players being unable to start back to back games is because they were not playing for their clubs. This is what Kenny alluded too after the defeat to Luxembourg.

Unless Coleman picks up a knock against Portugal, he will play both games.

I think he started Everton’s last two games and played full game

So a point seems a very realistic target here.

If I remember rightly that was the case the last time they came to Dublin for a qualifier also (2001), they just needed a point to set them up to win the group and got the point they needed.

This is the team I'd pick too but Kenny does like McClean and he does bring a left footed option to that side of the pitch. I wouldnt be surprised to see Coleman/Doherty drop out.

          Duffy Egan Omobamidele 

Coleman                                Doherty 

               Hendrick Cullen 

                       Mcgrath 

              Knight

                     Robinson

Doherty should get the nod over Stevens and mcclean in my opinion.

Knight in for Idah for extra legs in the midfield but played further up the field than the other midfielders 

Robinson High up the pitch to run in behind.

Gosh - this management stuff is a doddle.

Idah will almost certainly play after his effort against Portugal the last day.    Robinson and McGrath in behind him. Doherty will play LWB I think. After that the team picks itself I feel. 

Big test for Kenny this but I think we can put up a decent show. Beating Luxembourg and getting a result or at least rattiling Portugal would be a good step in the right direction with a view to the Nations League!

Bernardo Silva out injured 

Have a shave just in case.

Mixed team for Portugal tomorrow night especially having so many players on yellow cards 

Still a quality team 

Dan McDonnell saying Molumby is out with a hamstring injury & Omobamidele is a doubt with an Achilles issue (will do a late fitness test).

I was thinking Nathan Collins would start over Andy anyway, but if there's a minor issue then Andy should just be given more time & played vs Lux instead.

Nathan Collins exists.

Yep I'm thinking the same. It will be Coleman in at CB, it accomodates Doherty and McClean. Same back 5 that started against Azeri. I was there that day and it was bloddy depressing! Not looking forward to tomorrow as mich anymore...

He's more than capable of starting vs Portugal, & there would be no need to reshuffle the whole back line.

He probably would have been given the nod over Andy vs Portugal in September had he not had to pull out with injury on the day.

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Thanks

Thanks a million!

Ronaldo and co. aren’t coming to Dublin to be happy with a draw. That’s not how it works. They’ll allow Ireland to have plenty of the ball and will just pick away at us on the break. Portugal have midfielders that could put a ball in a fellas pocket from 50 yards away, once they win the ball tomorrow just watch how quick they’ll move it. They’re a good side who played poorly in Faro let’s be honest.

This is a huge test for Ireland but they’ll fancy themselves to get a result. Any kind of a result would be brilliant and the optimist in me is going for the shock result of 1-1.

Suppose if it's owned by CR7

Collins could be a better option to deal with Ronaldo's threat in the air than Coleman was in the previous game. That's not a slight on Coleman, it's just that Ronaldo can outjump most defenders with that type of clipped cross, and Collins is as big as Duffy in that sense.

I'm not sure if Callum Robinson owns any cats?

That said, the Irish team have really turned around the narrative in the past few games, so I'm excited to see what that looks like in person, and also what it transforms to in terms of an atmosphere with a full house.

Also looking forward to being back in a packed Aviva again. Another sign we're closer to normality. 

If it's level late in the game they're not going to go gung ho looking for a winner here any more than any other team, they'll be sensible enough to know that not losing the game is more important than winning it if it comes to it. Same as Figo and co did in 2001. Naive to think otherwise to be honest.

Nothing to lose tonight - on paper these should be beating us handy enough, even more so that the element of surprise we had in Faro is gone + the player who did most of the damage, Connolly, isn’t even in our squad - don’t know if we have the pace to hurt them in behind and can’t see us playing through them so hard to see us being much of a threat. 

Like everyone else I’m just excited to be going to a game in a full stadium again! 

People were going crazy looking for tickets for that one too. Was a great trip apart from the crazy decision (by me} to come back via a 10 hour layover Norway. I think I spent more in molde in a few hours than I spent in Tallinn in 3 days.

Some lad was walking around the airport in Oslo with Delaneys tie on his head, he was the lucky fella who caught it when Johnno threw it into the crowd. Must be worth money now..... Ha ha. 

Horgan doesnt make the cut. 

Being honest it's good to see Horgan drop out, assuming that it's a performance rather than injury related decision. We have enough options now that underperforming players should expect to lose their place in the squad.

Big call now is do we regress and put Colenman in there, or put in Collins and let him sink or swim?

I'd go with Collins - specialist CH with a massive physical presence.  Will also give their defenders something else (bar Duffy) to worry about for our few set-pieces.

Good point this I'd be dissapointed not to see Collins in. Has warranted it anyways on merit via his club performances but if we are building with a view to March 2023 it will be a major experience for him also. Coleman is pushing on won't be around forever.

Not sure Coleman at CB worked great against Azer either. Coleman and Doherty WBs. 

Imagine our midfield two both being unavailable for Lux on Sunday...

Imagine our midfield two both being unavailable for Lux on Sunday...

Molumby had a knock too hopefully he's okay. It's why blooding the likes of Kilkenny who is playing well and establishing himself in a midfield with far more competition then ours is important with a view to the future too. If people think we are qualfiying for tournaments with Arter or Hourihane in teams they are living in a fantasy. We are an injury or two away from that. 

Kenny's been very good at handing out debuts regardless of the occasion, but I just can't see him throwing Collins in tonight - but I'd love to be wrong!

Such a pity about Oma and was a player i was looking forward to seeing but no doubt ill see him play again 

Hendrick will get booked for saying hello to the referee and Cullen will get booked for timewasting for taking 4 seconds to take a throw.

Molumby has a hamstring injury not sure if he'll be risked for Sunday?

It wouldn't be a round of Intl games without someone touting a late call-up for Conor Coventry or Jack Taylor.

Yeah was waiting for someone to bring Whelan up.

glen or ronnie?

Interestingly enough Ryan Manning is listed as a Midfielder in the matchday squad. He certainly has the attributes to play as a either backup to Cullen or indeed as a partner (a 6 or an 8).

Mobile, tenacious, comfortable on the ball & good range of passing, all the stuff Kenny wants from Hourihane (but doesn't get).

He did spend the bulk of 2 or 3 seasons at QPR playing CM, so he could actually be a decent option there with Molumby out.

Looking at the table a draw is as good as a win for them so I wouldn't be surprised for them to settle for it if is level at the 55-60 minute mark. Other scenario is they start well and give us a lesson.

To the lads going enjoy.

Cullen will definitely start.

Does he have pace?

I think we're in a fantastic position to have Omobamidele and Collins coming through as they are. If we must select one over the other I think Collins is a better option overall. Both have premier league quality written all over them but Collins looks a bit special. 

Agreed but does he have pace? Genuine question. I would have concerns over lack of pace at the back. Egan and Duffy aren't slow but i think we need somebody fairly nimble back there. Oma has that for sure. 

Not sure but I think the fact he regularly played RB for Stoke might indicate he has a bit of speed. 

Not as quick as Andy, but probably quicker than you would guess for a lad his size.

Very comfortable on the ball, and has a good range of passing. Might see him go on a run up the pitch too.

For comparison, Omobamidele only had about 12 senior games under his belt for Norwich when he stepped on the pitch against Portugal (all in the Championship/Cups).

Collins has played nearly 50 games for Stoke across 2 seasons, & 6 games for Burnley (3 PL, including vs Man City where he was very good). He's a lot more ready for this today than Omobamidele was 2 months ago, and Andy's been brilliant. I'd have absolutely no worries about Collins starting tonight.

Normally the Coleman/Captain does the pre match press conference with Kenny the day before the game but it was Hendrick that was with him yesterday.

So maybe Coleman is being left out tonight for the Luxembourg game.

Coleman has done press conferences before and still been left out

pateen wrote: Anyone suggest a link for the game. Stuck overseas for this

RTE Player maybe? Not sure if they'll show it there though.

You'll get one very easily as it's on Sky Sports 👍🏼

Hesgoal, Ripple, Stream2Watch - should be loads!

Does RTE player not work properly for anyone else or is it because I'm tethering?

I've never been able to watch a match on my laptop using it.

Works fine in Ireland but fairly sure you'd need a VPN abroad

No it's just sh*te.

It can be touch and go with big events but its always sh*te on my laptop over wifi, have to use it wired for a solid stream so could be tethering yeah.

Even using a VPN I couldn't access the player from abroad recently 

Not sure if this will be okay?

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