Republic of Ireland will be looking to open their account in Group B of Euro 2024 Qualifying when they travel to the OPAP Arena in Athens to face Greece on Friday.

The two nations are separated by just three places in the FIFA World Rankings, with the Boys in Green sitting 49th in the current standings and the Piratiko positioned three places further back in 52nd.

Match preview

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Greece made a strong start to their Euro 2024 qualification campaign when they secured a comfortable 3-0 victory against European minnows Gibraltar towards the end of March.

First-half strikes from Giorgos Masouras and Emmanouil Siopis were followed by a third from Anastasios Bakasetas just before the hour mark to put three points on the board early doors for Gus Poyet's side.

The Piratiko have failed to qualify for the last two Euros tournaments and they are up against it this time around to qualify from Group B, which contains both France and the Netherlands, but a victory on Friday coupled with a positive result against the latter on home soil next Monday would provide Poyet and co with optimism of securing a top-two spot.

Greece, who followed up their win over Gibraltar with a lacklustre goalless draw in a friendly at home against Lithuania, have never faced the Republic of Ireland in a competitive fixture before, but they have locked horns on three previous occasions in friendlies, including two 1-0 wins in November 2012 and April 2000.

The Piratiko have lost just one of their last 16 home matches across all competitions – a 1-0 defeat to Spain in November 2021 – and they have won three of their last four on their own turf which bodes well ahead of Friday's contest.

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Republic of Ireland endured a losing start to their Euro 2024 qualification campaign, although manager Stephen Kenny will have taken some positives from the slender 1-0 defeat to World Cup finalists France in March.

Five days after beating Latvia 3-2 in a friendly at the Aviva Stadium, the Boys in Green were undone by a stunning long-range strike from Benjamin Pavard just five minutes after half time to hand the French a narrow victory in Dublin.

Republic of Ireland now have two favourable-looking fixtures against both Greece and Gibraltar during this month's international break in which Kenny will be desperate to see his side accumulate points to push themselves into the mix for a top-two finish in Group B.

However, success on Friday is not a given and their away form leaves a little to be desired as they have only won two of their last 10 away matches in Euros Qualifying over the last nine years – both of which were against Gibraltar.

Team News

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Greece boss Poyet is expected to name a strong starting lineup on Friday, which could see Liverpool left-back Kostas Tsimikas join Pantelis Chatzidiakos, Konstantinos Mavropanos and George Baldock in the back four.

Captain Bakasetas has the most caps (55) and most goals (11) of any player within Poyet's current squad and the 29-year-old is set to operate in an advanced midfield role just in front of Siopis and Petros Mantalos.

Vangelis Pavlidis and Giorgos Giakoumakis will battle for the centre-forward spot either side of wingers Masouras and Dimitris Pelkas.

As for Republic of Ireland, Chiedozie Ogbene has not been selected in Kenny's 25-man squad as he is still recovering from a hamstring tear, but midfield duo Alan Browne and Jeff Hendrick have been called up after shaking off fitness concerns.

Kenny has notably left out experienced quartet Robbie Brady, Connor Hourihane, Shane Duffy and Enda Stevens, while Celtic's Liam Scales and Peterborough United's Jack Taylor are two uncapped players who will be hoping to make their international debut on Friday.

Brighton & Hove Albion starlet Evan Ferguson scored his first international goal in March and could be handed a start in attack alongside either Troy Parrott, Michael Obafemi or Adam Idah, the latter of whom is yet to score for the Boys in Green after 14 appearances.

Greece possible starting lineup:
Vlachodimos; Baldock, Mavropanos, Chatzidiakos, Tsimikas; Siopis, Mantalos; Masouras, Bakasetas, Pelkas; Pavlidis

Republic of Ireland possible starting lineup:
Bazunu; Collins, Egan, O'Shea; Doherty, Browne, Cullen, Molumby, McClean; Ferguson, Obafemi

We say: Greece 2-1 Republic of Ireland

Stephen Kenny has urged his Republic of Ireland side to claim a 'historic away victory' on Friday, but coming out on top against a Greece side who boast an impressive home record could prove challenging.

A tight affair could be on the cards in Athens, but we believe that the hosts will do enough to claim maximum points and maintain their prefect start in Group B.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Oliver Thomas

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