Against All Odds: Ireland and Costa Rica to produce the goods

Roy has decided to stay with Ireland for a little while longer

With all eyes on the upcoming World Cup, Paul Robinson takes a look at one of tonight's warm up friendlies as he thinks we'll see at least three goals between Costa Rica and Republic of Ireland.

Costa Rica v Republic of Ireland
Saturday June 7, 01:00 BST

Costa Rica are in desperate need of a result tonight as this is their final fixture before they have to do battle against Italy, Uruguay and England. Since qualifying for the Finals thanks to their second place finish behind USA in the CONCACAF section, they have gone on to lose four of their next five matches - the sole bright spot being a 2-1 victory over Paraguay.

Jorge Luis Pinto's side will see this as ideal preparation for their encounter with England but it's the goal aspect of things we're concentrating on here. Three of their last four have gone over 2.5, with their most recent outing being a 3-1 defeat following a second half capitulation against Japan after Bryan Ruiz had given them a 1-0 lead.

Republic of Ireland missed out on World Cup qualification but they will be optimistic about their chances of making the next Euros given that 24 teams now qualify. They also recently began a new era under Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane - although the results haven't exactly been overly positive thus far.

The Irish did manage to put a pair of defeats behind them on Saturday though as they held Italy to a 0-0 draw. While that match clearly went under 2.5 goals, the two losses prior to that both had three goals. They also beat Latvia 3-0 back in November and three of their five fixtures under O'Neill have had three goals.

This is far from a certainty to be high-scoring but the odds of under 2.5 goals is far too short for a friendly match. Anything can happen, so with it trading at around the 1.538/15 match, I have to make under 2.5 my lay of the day.  

Recommended Bet
Lay Under 2.5 goals in Costa Rica v Rep Of Ireland @ 1.538/15 

2014 P/L (1pt each bet)

Wagered: 153 pts
Returned: 169.96 pts
P/L: + 16.96 pts (after commission)
(2013 P/L: + 3.80 pts)
(2012 P/L: + 9.60 pts)