Can The Green Army take something from The World Champions?
Last updated: October 6, 2015 by Leon Marshal
Game details
. .
| Kick-off: | Thursday, 7:45pm |
| Venue: | Aviva Stadium (Dublin) |
| Coverage: | Sky Sports 1, BBC 5 Live |
| Home form: | WWDDD |
| Away form: | WWWLW |
| Last meeting: | 1-1 |
| Referee: | Carlos Velasco |
| Competition: | EC Qualification |
Republic of Ireland are lying third in the standings of Group D with 15 points in the bag, two behind Poland and four behind group leaders Germany. If the Irish players lose their last two games against Germany and Poland they may be out of The European Championship because at the moment Scotland are just 4 points behind The Boys in Green. The Scots will have to play against Gibraltar which means 3 sure points for Scotland.
Germany have won five consecutive games in Group D but their participation in Euro 2016 is still not assured; so the Germans will be motivated to win the three points ensuring first place in the standings.
The last match between these two teams ended with a 1-1 draw. Germany went in front with Tony Kroos’ goal in the 71st minute but John O’Shea’s late equalizer earned a point for The Green Army. Martin O’Neill hopes his players can repeat the performance they showed in Gelsenkirchen.
Team News
Martin O’Neill has a reduced squad down from 40 to 27 before the crucial matches against Germany and Poland.
Stephen Quinn (knee), Harry Arter (groin) and Ciaran Clark (quad) – have been ruled out because of injury.
Marc Wilson will remain at Stoke City for treatment on a calf injury which will be reviewed by the Ireland medical staff early in the week.
The squad assembled in Dublin on Sunday evening and trained on Monday at the FAI’s National Training Centre on the National Sports Campus in Abbots-town.
Quotes of the week
Martin O’Neill (Rep. of Ireland) :
“I wish Jack Grealish all the best with his England career.”
Joachim Löw (Germany) :
“We want to take qualification seriously and stay concentrated until the end.”
Expected line-ups:
| . | |
| Rep. Of Ireland(4-4-2): | Given, Brady, Coleman, O’Shea, Walters, McCarthy, Whelan, Hoolahan, McGeady, Hendrick, Keane. |
| Subs | Forde, Randolph, Meyler, McClean, Rooney, O’Kane, Pilkington, Ward, Pearce, Long, Doyle. |
| Injured: | Clark, Quinn, Arter |
| Doubtful: | Wilson |
| Not available: | — |
| . | |
| Germany (4-2-3-1): | Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Hector, Schweinsteiger, Özil, Kroos, Gündogan, Götze, Can, Müller. |
| Subs | ter Stegen, Kruse, Bellarabi, Volland, Zieler, Podolski, Ginter, Rudy, Mustafi, Kramer, Schürrle. |
| Injured: | — |
| Doubtful: | — |
| Not available: | — |
Key Battle
 |
Keane this campaign | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Minutes | Goals | Shots per game | Assists | MotM | Yellows | Reds | |
| 6 (2) | 438 | 5 | N/A | 1 | N/A | 0 | 0 | |
 |
Özil this campaign | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Minutes | Goals | Shots per game | Assists | MotM | Yellows | Reds | |
| 4 | 360 | 0 | N/A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
So far this campaign
| . | . | . |
|---|---|---|
| Rep. of Ireland this campaign | Germany this campaign | |
| 3 | Table Position | 1 |
| 2 (2) | (at home) Wins (away) | 3 (3) |
| 7-0 vs. Gibraltar | Biggest win | 7-0 vs. Gibraltar |
| 2 (1) | (at home) Draws (away) | 1 (0) |
| 0 (1) | (at home) Losses (away) | 0 (1) |
| 0-1 to Scotland | Biggest Defeat | 0-2 to Poland |
| Keane (5) | Top scorer | Müller (8) |
| Hendrick, Hoolahan (3) | Assist Leader | Özil, Kruse (3) |
| Y13, R0 | Discipline | Y8, R0 |
| 1 | Failures to score | 1 |
| 3 | Clean Sheets | 3 |
| 4 | Both Teams to Score Games | 4 |
| 3 | Over 2.5 Games | 5 |
| 5 | Under 2.5 Games | 3 |
- Both teams have played 10 matches, 4 of which finished with Germany victories; the number of draws are the same.
- Republic of Ireland haven’t lost at home since 6th Sept. 2013 when The Green Army lost 1-2 to Sweden in a World Cup Qualifier.
- Germany has lost just one away game in ECQ from their last 20 games. Die Mannschaft lost to Poland 0- 2 on 11th Oct. 2014.
- The only home victory for Ireland over Germany was on 8th May 1936 when in a friendly match The Green Army won 3-1 in Dublin.
Head to Head
| Last 5 meetings between the two sides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Competition | Game Result | First Goalscorer |
| 14/10/14 | ECQ | Germany 1-1 Ireland | Kroos 71′ |
| 11/10/13 | WQE | Germany 1-1 Ireland | Khedira 12′ |
| 12/10/12 | WQE | Ireland 1-6 Germany | Reus 32′ |
| 13/10/07 | ECQ | Ireland 0-0 Germany | — |
| 02/09/06 | ECQ | Germany 1-0 Ireland | Podolski 57′ |