Ireland v Serbia Betting Preview – World Cup 2018 Qualifiers 5th September
Ireland played out a draw in Georgia on the weekend and they go off on Tuesday in what is a high pressure game for them. Ireland are still in second but take on the group leaders Serbia, but the Irish now have Wales breathing down their necks now. Of a course, a win would see the Irish jump to the top of the table and put themselves in the driving seat to get to the World Cup next summer. This is really where it is going to count now for the Irish, three points from this home fixture would be huge.
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Ireland v Serbia Betting Tips
Ireland have managed to stay unbeaten in their World Cup qualification group, but they put in a really poor performance in a 1-1 draw in Georgia on the weekend. They were second best for most of the game and they took just 26% possession in the group. Once again they took a lead in the match and immediately reverted to a defensive mindset, just sitting back and that cost them and now the pressure is on them in this one. A win for them will get them top spot at the expense of Serbia and the group has been building up to this, but there is no room for error because now Wales are hot on the heels of both of them. Anything less than a home win for Ireland in this one and they will be feeling the pinch if Wales beat Moldova as expected on the night as well.
So Ireland’s qualification hopes to some extent are resting on the outcome of this game. They have to pick themselves up from that poor display in Georgia because if they give up the ball cheaply to Serbia, the visitors will have more tools to hurt them with than Georgia did. Ireland’s Shane Long and Daryl Murphy are 9/4 joint favourites in the bet365 anytime goalscorer market. Both teams not to score at bet365 in this one at a price of 3/4 has to have some appeal because this should be tight because of what is at stake in this one. The 0-0 draw is a pretty short 6/1 price just to highlight that. Ireland starts the game two points back of leaders Serbia and only two ahead of Wales, so the margins are pretty narrow here now.
So Serbia will have one foot in the door of Russia 2018 with a win in this one as that would open up a comfortable lead with two to play. They aren’t a defensive powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination but they are pretty handy going forward. Out on the road in the qualification campaign for the World Cup, Serbia have banked wins over Georgia and Moldova, scoring three goals in both of those victories, while they were held to a 1-1 draw in Wales. Aleksandar Mitrovic is the group’s top goalscorer with six goals and he is a price of 15/8 in the bet365 anytime goalscorer market. Ireland and Syria have played just four times before and Serbia holds a W1 D3 advantage for those previous meetings. Their first trip to Ireland ended in a 1-1 draw but they took a 2-1 win their in their most recent visit back in a 2014 International Friendly. They can challenge in this one and under 2.5 goals is a price of 8/15.
Ireland v Serbia Betting Odds
Serbia 6/4, Ireland 7/4, Draw 2/1
Ireland v Serbia Predictions
Draw: The Serbians are no mugs and they have far more to offer going forward than Ireland do. Ireland were just poor on the weekend and while you can expect them to play a little bit better than that, they are going to be focused on defence here against a good side. Settle for the draw.
