Ireland v Gibraltar betting preview, tip, team news

Sky Sports Main Event, 7.45pm Monday

Ireland were nearly blown off course in Gibraltar but they should have no problems continuing their fine start to Euro 2020 qualifying by beating the minnows comfortably in Dublin.

It was looking a bit nervy by the rock in March as Mick McCarthy's second spell in charge started in low-key surroundings. Ireland struggled desperately in difficult windy conditions before Jeff Hendrick scored the only goal in a game lacking in quality.

McCarthy has since seen off a tricky Georgia side 1-0 at the Aviva before Friday's smash-and-grab 1-1 raid in Denmark, where Ireland should have lost but picked up a crucial point thanks to Shane Duffy's late header.

Conor Hourihane scores in Ireland's 1-0 win over GeorgiaCredit: Catherine Ivill

Gibraltar have lost 14 of 15 official away matches since being allowed to compete in Uefa/Fifa competitions, and this should be as simple as the odds suggest.

The first of those 15 games was a 7-0 hammering against Ireland when Robbie Keane scored a hat-trick inside 20 minutes. How McCarthy must wish the greatest goalscorer the country has ever produced was still weaving his magic on the pitch rather than coaching on the sidelines.

With Shane Long unavailable there is a lack of top-flight quality in the Irish ranks so a thrashing would seem unlikely and the best bet could be to take Ireland to grind Gibraltar down and the second-half to produce more goals than the opening 45 minutes.

It's a bet which has won in all three previous meetings between Ireland and Gibraltar.

The 7-0 match featured four second-half goals, in the reverse fixture in this campaign Hendrick notched after 49 minutes, and Ireland's 4-0 success in September 2015 was only 1-0 at half-time.

Gibraltar have become slightly better at protecting themselves from heavy defeats, particularly in the early exchanges - eight of their last ten away matches have featured more second-half goals.

That was the case on Friday when they held out for 30 minutes against Georgia and there were further goals on 59 and 76 minutes in a game which followed a similar pattern to the 4-0 loss to North Macedonia in the Nations League in November.

Gibraltar were resilient for 27 minutes but the floodgates opened in the last quarter and that could easily happen again as fatigue kicks in. An away double-header is far from ideal given the baking conditions in Georgia just a few days ago.

Recommendation
Second-half to be highest-scoring half
1pt 6-5 Betway

Team news
Ireland
Alan Judge broke his wrist against Denmark on Friday and Kevin Long is out with a calf problem. Alan Browne and Shane Long were injury withdrawals before the trip to Copenhagen.

Gibraltar
Julio Ribas selects from the same travelling party that went to Georgia.

Key stat
Seven of Ireland's last eight matches have been 0-0 at half-time.

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