On the back of a rather lacklustre World Cup Qualifier against Kazakhstan, the Irish will look to give a performance for their fans to cheer about this Friday; however I think they will need a lot of their famous luck when the Germans come to visit.

There is little joy to be had in backing Germany in this game, as the bookies are uniform in offering 4/9 for them to get on the plane in Dublin with 3 points in the bag. If you fancy the Irish resilience to return, a draw can be found at 67/18 with Pinnacle, and if you think the Republic of Ireland can spring a real upset, Pinnacle are your bookies again, offering 31/4.

The Boys in Green are not fancied by many and with good reason. A Euro campaign that brought with it much hope was nothing short of a disappointment, and at their first chance to set the record straight Ireland just about stumbled past a poor Kazakhstan side. There has been much criticism of Giovanni Trapattoni, both before and after the game in Astana, and this Irish side is far from settled. Add into that the injury headache that Trap faces (Glenn Whelan, Sean St Ledger, Richard Dunne, Kevin Doyle and James McClean are all unavailable) and the prospect of Ireland taking anything out of this match look grim.

Trapattoni has also made it quite clear this will be another hard, ground out effort from the Irish, having said (prior to his injury-invoked call up) that Robbie Brady lacks the discipline to face Germany; Trapattoni will once again use the 12^th man of a rigid shape to try and take down his opponents. But even with this in mind, expect the Irish to find the net. In their Euro qualifiers they only failed to find the net once, against Slovakia in a game where the Irish were really quite reserved, knowing a draw left them entirely in control of their qualification destiny. Whilst you may think Ireland will only score from set pieces in this match, Germany are top class in the air and Ireland will find it hard to beat them there. With two first choice defenders out (Lahm suspended and Hummels injured) Ireland have every chance of finding a hole in the German backline, and if they should you can only look to one man to score; Robbie Keane, who can be found at 7/2 with Sky Bet to score at anytime.

But don’t think the Republic of Ireland will be the only goalscorers in this one. Germany have the evergreen Miroslav Klose in their ranks, who is possibly the most determined man in the world to reach Rio, being only a goal shy of equalling Ronaldo’s all time tournament record, and he is in top form. However the biggest goal threat will be Marco Reus. With Marco Tardelli admitting Ireland will man mark Mesut Ozil in the middle, space will be left for the young Dortmund man to exploit, and he is also in fine form, having scored 4 in the league so far this season as well as his goal against Man City in the Champions League. His odds of 5/2 with Ladbrokes are too good to miss.

With both these players tipped to score, there is value in the Both Teams To Score market, where Yes is given as evens by Bet365.

Republic of Ireland vs Germany Betting Tips

Robbie Keane to score anytime @ 7/2 with Sky Bet

Marco Reus to score anytime @ 5/2 with Ladbrokes

Both Teams To Score @ 1/1 with Bet365