Republic of Ireland vs Slovakia Betting Tips & Predictions

Republic of Ireland began their preparations for Euro 2016 well on Friday as a 2nd minute goal for the hosts was enough for them to secure a victory over Switzerland, with that result making it five wins, one draw, and one defeat in their last seven matches. Although the brutal gash that Kevin Doyle suffered put a bit of a dampener on the victory.

One of these wins was against world champions Germany as well, and they showed determination in their 3-1 aggregate win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in their Euro 2016 qualification playoff back in November.

Slovakia’s preparations hit more of a rocky start than their opponents as they played out a drab goalless draw at home to Latvia. However, the visitors are now unbeaten in four matches and were impressive in qualifying as they tallied up 22 points from their ten games.

Slovakia do struggle to break down the better quality teams though, especially away from home. They did manage to get a goal in Ukraine during qualifying, but they failed to score past the likes of Spain, Russia, and Greece away from home.

This doesn’t bode well for them when they’re visiting the well drilled Irish side, who have kept clean sheets in each of their last four home matches. In fact, Republic of Ireland have only conceded three times in their last ten home games, where they have held off Germany, England, and Switzerland.

The hosts haven’t scored a ton though, averaging one goal per game at home over the last seven matches. This makes odds of 8/11 for Both Teams Not to Score look excellent value for money, and I’m backing that along with a 1-0 win for the Republic of Ireland at 5/1.