Ireland travel to Armenia for their UEFA Nations League opener on Saturday afternoon.
The Boys in Green come into this competition on the back of a disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign. Stephen Kenny’s men finished third in Group A, behind Serbia and Portugal.
Since they won’t be going to Qatar, it would make sense for them to prioritise this tournament. While this is by no means a given for the Irish, it’s a good chance to start with a win.
The hosts come into this one in pretty terrible form. In their last ten matches in all competitions, they’ve won just one, losing six and drawing the other three.
Their only win in that time was the 1-0 friendly victory over Montenegro in March of this year. Their final game in preparation for this month’s fixtures was a damaging 9-0 defeat at the hands of Norway.
There’s also been two heavy defeats to Germany and even a 5-0 loss to North Macedonia in that time. Those results will have surely damaged the confidence of this Armenia side.
Ireland will certainly be taking encouragement from those particular results and their recent form has been good, too. The visitors have lost just one of their last ten games in all competitions heading into this clash.
That sole defeat came at the hands of Portugal in World Cup qualifying, so Ireland can be excused for that. Playing against high level opposition will have helped them sharpen their tools for this campaign, though.
Below, we’ll preview this UEFA Nations League fixture and provide our predictions, the team news, our recommended bets and more…
Armenia vs Ireland Predictions
This won’t be a walk in the park for Ireland here. Despite their poor recent form, Armenia have home advantage and their fans could make a difference.
The Armenians actually won their last game at home. That was the 1-0 friendly win over Montenegro, and they’ll be hoping they can translate that to this game.
On the road, Ireland have been a bit of a mixed bag. They’ve won three of their last five away from home, losing one and drawing the other.
The three wins came against Andorra, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg. Those teams are very much in and around Armenia in the FIFA rankings, so that points to an away win.
Unfortunately for Ireland, the FIFA rankings aren’t the be all and end all. If they are to get the three points here, they’ll have to go out on the pitch and earn them.
Having also failed to qualify for this winter’s World Cup, Armenia will be looking to do something here. They find themselves in a competitive group, so they really need to take the home advantage when they get it.
There’s plenty of Premier League experience in this Ireland team and that should work to their advantage. The season did only end a matter of weeks ago though, so fatigue could be an issue.
Seamus Coleman in particular has had a taxing season with his club Everton. If he does start, which he is expected to, he could become a liability in the backline.
This will certainly be a competitive game of football regardless. Ireland will be keen to get off to the perfect start ahead of their match up with Ukraine.
Read on for our Armenia vs Ireland predictions and best bets.
Armenia vs Ireland Head to Head
These two have only met on two previous occasions. Of those two games, Ireland have won both, leaving Armenia winless against The Boys in Green.
Those two games came as the nations were drawn together in Euro 2012 qualifying. Ireland won the first meeting in Armenia by a 1-0 scoreline. Keith Fahey got the only goal that day.
Ireland then welcomed Armenia to the Aviva Stadium in the reverse fixture. An eventful first half saw Armenia go down to ten men and Ireland take a 1-0 lead. They doubled that lead in the second half, before Armenia scored a consolation goal.
This is just the third time these two countries will meet in any capacity on a football pitch. With the previous meetings coming over a decade ago, we can’t read much into the head to head record.
Can Ireland keep their 100% record against Armenia, or could be in for a bit of a surprise?
Armenia Team News – L W L L L
The hosts are now without starman Henrik Mkhitaryan after his retirement from international football. However the experienced David Yurchenko is likely to start the game in goal for the hosts.
Hrayr Mkoyan and Varazdat Haroyan and are expected to be the centre back pairing. Arman Hovhannisyan is likely to get the nod at left back, with Hovhannes Hambardzumyan at right back.
Eduard Spertsyan will start in the centre of midfield. He will be partnered by the experienced Artak Grigoryan, who is one of the more creative players for the hosts.
Tigran Barseghyan is likely to start at left midfield, with Kamo Hovhannisyan taking up the right wing position. Khoren Bayramyan is expected to start in attacking midfield, with Vahan Bichakhchyan leading the attack.
Ireland Team News – W D W D W
After an impressive breakthrough season with Liverpool, Caoimhin Kelleher is included in Ireland’s squad. Our Armenia vs Ireland predictions expect the young shot stopper to start in net for the visitors.
John Egan, Shane Duffy and Enda Stevens are likely to make up a defensive trio. That will allow Nathan Collins to start at right wing back, with captain Seamus Coleman at left wing back.
Jeff Hendrick could be asked to anchor the centre of midfield. That would allow Callum Robinson and Josh Cullen the chance to get forward and create. Both are expected to start here.
Chiedozie Ogbene is likely to get the nod up front. He is expected to be partnered by Tottenham youngster Troy Parrott.
Armenia vs Ireland Betting Tips
The hosts are the outsiders to get the three points in this game. Our traders have the home side priced up at 15/4 to win in our Armenia vs Ireland match bets.
These two haven’t played out a draw yet, but have only met on two previous occasions. If you think this one will end all square, you can back the draw at 13/5.
Ireland find themselves the fancied favourites heading into this one. The away side are priced up at 3/4 to get off to the perfect start in this campaign.
All things considered, Ireland should have enough to get the job done here. It won’t be straightforward for the away side, but they are likely to win.
Armenia vs Ireland Recommended Bets
