Ireland vs Luxembourg Prediction & Betting Tips - World Cup

Prediction published on 25/03/2021, 05:31  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 25/03/2021 at 05:33 in World Cup Prediction

Ireland’s campaign in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers started on a losing note, the team blowing an early lead to lose 3-2 to Serbia in Belgrade. On Match Day 2, they will be at home to Luxembourg, who start off their campaign on the back of a 1-0 loss in a friendly match with Qatar. Ireland matched Serbia for the better part of the game but two goals in seven minutes from Fulham man Aleksandr Mitrovic turned the game on its head. Jamie Collins did score a late one for Ireland but the damage was done. Even as Ireland was left winless in 10 matches, there were positives to pick from this game and they will hope to improve on as Luxembourg visits. For one, they managed to score after failing in the previous seven matches. Perhaps the biggest concern to work on for Stephen Kenny will be the defence; as he seeks his first win in 10 matches as manager, his team has managed just three clean sheets in 12 matches, and won just two of 15. Going back home, they are winless in the last four matches but have lost just once in the last 10. While they’ve failed to score in the last three home matches, Ireland haven’t conceded more than a goal in the last 13 straight home matches. In the last 15 matches at home, they’ve scored two or more goals in five.

The loss to Qatar was Luxembourg’s third in the last four matches, all of which have not returned a win, just a draw with Azerbaijan in the Nations League in November. The visitors are the second lowest in rank in this group, at 98th and their surprise win over Montenegro in October is just one of the three they’ve managed in the last 19 games. Luxembourg have two clean sheets in their last 22 matches and in the last 10 matches they’ve conceded two or more goals in four. Away from home they have two straight losses and in the last 12 away matches, they’ve won two and lost eight. They are winless in 14 straight World Cup qualification matches away from home. The last time they played an away game in the qualifiers, it ended 8-0 in favor of Sweden and that marked a third straight away game in the qualifiers that they failed to score.