Comments and predictions for Finland vs. Ireland: Dramatic draw

Trailing in League B Group 3, Finland and the Republic of Ireland will be looking to pick up their first points of the UEFA Nations League when they play their third match on Thursday.

Both teams have failed to pick up a point in September, so a direct battle for survival could begin when they meet at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki.

Latest Finland vs Republic of Ireland team information

Heimir Hallgrimsson has made a number of changes to the Republic of Ireland squad for this month's pre-season, with Matt Doherty, Alan Browne, Callum Robinson and Jake O'Brien absent.

Will Smallbone and captain Seamus Coleman are both injured, so Watford's Festy Ebosele could start at right-back in Coleman's absence.

Uncapped players Jack Taylor and Mark McGuinness have been promoted from the Under-21s, while Mikey Johnston, Jamie McGrath and Finn Azaz have all been recalled. Stoke City striker Tom Cannon - who scored four goals in one game last week - has been placed on the waiting list.

After scoring his first Champions League goal in September, Adam Idah will compete with Evan Ferguson, Troy Parrott and Sammie Szmodics for a starting spot in attack.

Meanwhile, Finland have recently abandoned their traditional 4-4-2 formation, moving towards a flexible box midfield system and placing more emphasis on attacking through the full-backs.

Manchester City youngster Adam Stahl and Tomas Galvez took up wide positions against Greece, but Jere Uronen was selected against England.

Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky captains the hosts, while Rennes midfielder Glen Kamara often links up with all-time leading scorer Teemu Pukki in the back. Pukki, now 34, is impressing in MLS with Minnesota United, but Venezia captain Joel Pohjanpalo is also an option.

Fredrik Jensen could also feature, having scored the only goal in both wins over Ireland four years ago - all three of his recent international goals have come in Helsinki.

Latest predicted lineup for Finland vs Republic of Ireland

Finland:

Hradecky; Stahl, Hoskonen, Ivanov, Galvez; Peltola, Schuller; Jensen, Kamara, Antman; Pukki

Republic of Ireland:

Kelleher; Ebosele, Collins, O'Shea, Brady; Molumby, Cullen, Knight; Ogbene, Idah, Szmodics

Latest football commentary Finland vs Republic of Ireland

There is now a six-point gap between the top and bottom two teams in Group 3, with England and Greece leading the way after both winning their two games in the last month, leaving Finland and the Republic of Ireland with a huge task to avoid direct relegation or having to enter the relegation playoffs.

Finland enter a new season under long-time coach Markku Kanerva, who led the team to Euro 2020 and has since kept them alive in the second tier of the Nations League.

However, the Nordic nation suffered a major shock at the start of their third successive League B campaign, losing 3-0 to Greece and managing just one shot on target.

They then went on to lose 0–2 to England at Wembley, leaving Kanerva's side bottom of the four-team group.

Each of Finland's last five away games has seen them concede at least two goals, so they will surely be breathing a sigh of relief when they return home, where a weekend match against England will be followed by a visit to Ireland.

After failing to win in their first five meetings with their opponents on Thursday, Finland have recorded back-to-back wins over Irish opponents - both 1-0 in the 2020-21 Nations League.

With two home defeats, relegation is certainly a serious concern for the Republic of Ireland, as they only sit above Finland on a slightly less poor goal difference.

After losing to England in Dublin - with goals from former 'Boys in Green' player Declan Rice and Jack Grealish adding to the pain - they went on to concede two second-half goals in a 2-0 defeat to Greece.

Now new coach Heimir Hallgrimsson is facing the risk of becoming the first man to lead Ireland to defeat in his first three competitive games.

His first spell of training produced no points, no goals and few chances, as the Republic of Ireland fell to near all-time lows in the FIFA rankings: in the past four years they have dropped from 34th to 62nd, with 70th being their worst position in history.

Under Hallgrimsson, caretaker manager John O'Shea and former boss Stephen Kenny, Ireland have suffered 10 defeats in their last 15 games, with just three ending in wins - two of those coming against Gibraltar.

After three consecutive seasons of finishing third in League B groups, the "Boys in Green" are in danger of finally falling through the exit door, unless they can start their revival by picking up points against Finland.

That may not be easy to do, with Ireland failing to score in 12 of their 18 Nations League games so far, while they are winless in eight away games. Despite often struggling on the road, Finland have won their last two home games and now face an Ireland side lacking confidence – but the Boys in Green still possess some attacking talent.

Both teams will feel this is one of their best chances to pick up three points, so the match is likely to be open and end in a draw.

Score prediction Finland vs Republic of Ireland

Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the following results for the match between Finland and the Republic of Ireland :

• Sportsmole: Finland 0-0 Republic of Ireland

• WhoScore: Finland 2-1 Republic of Ireland
• Our prediction: Finland 1-1 Ireland

When and where to watch Finland vs Republic of Ireland live?

To watch live the match Finland vs Republic of Ireland in the Nations League taking place at 1:45 a.m. on October 11, viewers can watch on TV360 here, Mytv system here or on online sports channels. Wishing viewers happy moments of watching football.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/nhan-dinh-du-doan-phan-lan-vs-ch-ireland-hoa-kich-tinh-231242.html