понедельник, 15 октября 2012 г.

World Cup 2014: Trapattoni to pick Keane for Ireland

Robbie Keane is expected to start against the Faroe Islands
With all the home nations (and Republic of Ireland) in action on Tuesday, Christian Crowther takes a look at the team news...
Faroe Islands v Republic of Ireland (Tuesday, 19:00)
A shell-shocked Republic of Ireland squad will travel to the Faroe Islands knowing nothing other than a convincing win will help repair the damage caused by Friday's humbling at the hands of Germany. This is by no means a given against the Faroese, who will be full of confidence after leading Sweden until midway through the second half on Friday. A significant boost for Ireland will be the expected return to the starting line-up of their all-time leading scorer Robbie Keane, who should recover from injury and is 1.814/5 to notch any time.
Croatia v Wales (Tuesday, 19:30, Sky Sports 2)
If Wales are still basking in the glory of Friday's win against Scotland then a trip to Croatia will act as a bucket of cold water over the head. They are 1.3130/100 favourites to extinguish any Welsh hopes of qualification after beating Macedonia away on Friday. Aaron Ramsey's suspension is a blow for Chris Coleman's side, although Wolves midfielder David Edwards is in line to replace him.
Belgium v Scotland (Tuesday, 19:45, ESPN)
Craig Levein's position as Scotland coach is hanging by a thread following the defeat to Wales and, on paper, a trip to Belgium doesn't look like the ideal fixture to grab a job-saving win at 11.010/1. Belgium are unbeaten in Group A and currently lead on goal difference but will be missing Premier League players Marouane Fellaini and Romelu Lukaku. Scotland's uphill task is made tougher without Celtic duo James Forrest and Scott Brown, who both pulled out with injury.
Portugal v Northern Ireland (Tuesday, 19:45, Sky Sports 1)
Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill faces some real selection dilemmas ahead of this daunting fixture against Portugal. Gareth McAuley, Shane Ferguson and Chris Brunt are among a host of players who are unavailable for the game in Porto. Portugal will be missing injured pair Fabio Coentrao and Raul Meireles but Cristiano Ronaldo is in line for his 100th cap against O'Neill's men. Ronaldo's countrymen have scored three or more goals in seven of their last nine home qualifiers and are around 1.654/6 to do so again here.
Poland v England (Tuesday, 20:00, ITV 1)
Roy Hodgson will make numerous changes following Friday's game, with Joleon Lescott expected to slot in alongside Phil Jagielka in central defence ahead of Gary Cahill and skipper Steven Gerrard set to return in midfield with Michael Carrick. Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole will likely come in as full-backs and the revamped defensive unit are 2.0421/20 to keep a clean sheet. James Milner is an obvious replacement for the injured Theo Walcott on the right-hand side and Jermain Defoe is favourite to partner Wayne Rooney up front. Chelsea pair Frank Lampard and Ryan Bertrand will miss the trip through injury and illness respectively.

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