Rep of Ireland v Germany: New formation won't save Trapp's men

Jon Walters will lead the Irish attack on Friday night

Ireland have a mountain of injuries for the visit of Germany meaning they are expected to revert to a 4-3-3 formation, but does Daniel McDonnell think it will make any difference?

Rep of Ireland v Germany
Aviva Stadium - Friady 19:45

A full house dominated by Ireland fans, who hope to create an atmosphere that will bowl over superior opposition.

It could be just like Euro 2012 all over again in Dublin on Friday night. Football wise, that's not a very attractive proposition. Germany are in town for a crunch World Cup qualifier and they'll be expecting to stroll away with all three points.

After abject failure against the elite of the game in Poland and Ukraine, this is Ireland's chance to show they have learned from that dismal exercise.

And, partly by accident and partly by design, Giovanni Trapattoni has stumbled on the kind of set-up that many would have preferred in the summer.

He acknowledged last month that he was thinking of switching to a 4-3-3 and, sceptically, we said we'd heard it all before and expected the old familiar 4-4-2 to be rolled out this month.

But he's made good on his promise so, finally, Ireland will enter a game of this nature with a formation that should be capable of coping with the number of opponents in midfield.

Of course, this young, vibrant German side move the ball so well that they can make good teams look very silly, so bodies alone aren't going to make it better. What Ireland require is a coherent plan throughout, but it's encouraging that they have prepared for it beforehand.

With Richard Dunne injured and Kevin Doyle, Glenn Whelan and Sean St Ledger struck down over the past week, Trapattoni was already dealing with a weakened hand before he lost Robbie Keane to an Achilles problem this morning.

Some have interpreted it as a blessing in disguise. Loyalty to Keane meant that Trapattoni was set to use his skipper as the lone central striker in a 4-3-3, a role that is patently not suited to a player with Keane's attributes. The forward outlet needs to be a physical performer with the ability to bring others into the play. In his absence, Jon Walters gets the nod with fan favourite Shane Long in reserve.

So what happens?

Well, this is an extremely difficult test of Ireland's new system and one hopes that, whatever happens, Trapattoni is willing to try it again. There's no shame in losing to the Germans and while it would be nice to believe that the hosts are capable of producing an upset, a punter must be pragmatic.

The Irish rearguard can be got at if pressure is applied and Germany will have noted that teams who have pressed Trap's men early have profited. Standing off makes no sense. Russia came here two years ago and killed the game within an hour.

Germany will seek to follow that model. They're 1.4640/85 to win but there's no value there. 2.265/4 about a half team lead and full time success is 2.265/4 and that does stand out.

Still, Joachim Loew's side do have a below strength defence so it's not all doom and gloom. Ireland are capable of registering on the scoresheet, so take the 2.021/1 about Both Teams To Score.

Early goals are a common feature of Irish games, both for and against, so even if you're feeling cheery, splitting stakes on 0-11 Minutes 4.3100/30 and 11-20 Minutes 4.94/1 makes sense for the deadlock breaker.

Alas, in the Correct Score Market, a 3-1 Irish reverse at 14.0 is the call.

At least there's the Faroes to look forward to on Tuesday!

Recommended Bets

Germany/Germany Half Time/Full Time @ 2.265/4
Both Teams to Score @ 2.021/1
Ireland 1 Germany 3 @ 14.013/1
First Goal 0-11 Minutes @ 4.3100/30 & 11-20 Minutes @ 4.94/1
Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.865/6