Republic of Ireland vs Bosnia Betting Tips

The 1st leg in Zenica exploded into life in the final 10 minutes on Friday night when Robbie Brady broke the deadlock for the visitors with 8 minutes to play. However any hopes of a famous Irish away win were dashed when Edin Dzeko converted for the hosts moments later to leave the tie finely poised at 1-1 going into the 2nd leg.

It is certainly advantage Ireland though. Home advantage was always going to be key in this play-off and having got the away leg out the way with a draw they’ll fancy their chances of finishing the job in Dublin.
Ireland are unbeaten in their last 8 matches at the AVIVA Stadium with England, Germany and Poland amongst their opponents. They have only lost 1 of their last 20 home European Championship qualifiers and will fancy their chances of extending that run against a Bosnia side that has only won 2 away matches in the past 2 years.

Andorra and Cyprus were their opponents in those matches and they may feel that their best chance of making it to France has gone after only securing a draw in the 1st leg. On occasions they put in intense spells of excellent football and they are dangerous opponents but their inconsistency and inability to keep it going for long periods suggests that Ireland are good value to win at least one half in this match at 4/5.

There haven’t been many goals in their recent home matches. In their 5 games at the AVIVA Stadium this year there have only been 6 goals in total and with an away goal in the bag it’s not really in their interests to make this game any more open. If the game remains goalless for long periods, Bosnia will have to go for it and that should lead to chances on the break for the hosts.

The 2nd leg of the Euro 2016 Play-Off between the Republic of Ireland and Bosnia takes place on Monday night in Dublin. Our betting tips suggest that the hosts are the most likely side to progress to France next summer.

Crucial 1-0 home wins over Georgia and Germany earlier in the Autumn saw them into this play-off and the confidence they will have gained from those results might lead them to truly believe they can do likewise again here. They will also be boosted by the return of the experienced duo of John O’Shea and Jonathan Walters from suspension and that should only aid their chances on a high pressure night.

Certainly at 5/1 backing the Republic to win 1-0 is worth a flutter.