Mick McCarthy sat through a turgid return as boss in their 1-0 win in Gibraltar and there’s not much to suggest this one will be that much better as the Irish haven’t exactly been entertainers of late with just five total goals being scored in their last seven games.
This should be exactly the game that they finally cut loose and bang a few goals in against the team ranked 195 in the world, but it’s hard to see where any glut of goals is coming from at the moment – and although they’ll certainly win the game it may again be a tough watch for McCarthy and Ireland fans.
The Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid is the venue for Spain’s clash with unbeaten Sweden, who are in second place in the group after an eventful 3-3 draw in Norway in their second game of the campaign. Spain are imperious at home in qualifying but the Swedes will give them a good test just as Norway did in their 2-1 defeat in March.
The goals have been raining down for Spain with three goals coming in seven of their last nine and there’s already been 22 goals in the six games these two have been involved in with both sides scoring eight in their three games. There's no reason why Sweden can't find the net.
Poland can justify 4/7 favouritism thanks to a strong qualifying record at home – where they’ve not lost in five years. Israel pulled off something of an upset by beating Austria last time out but away from home they’ve not beaten a higher-ranked team since 2013, and there’s no confidence they can start now.
Poland have ten wins and a draw in their last 11 qualification games at home and averaged over three goals a game during that run. Lately they’ve not been as fluent with four of their last six games ending in 1-0 scorelines either way, but Israel away games usually have goals in and that seems the more likely outcome.
Odds correct as of 1325 on 10/06/19