AFTER being spared defeat on his Ireland debut thanks to an injury-time equaliser on Thursday night, manager Stephen Kenny is back on home turf and eyeing a first win against Finland.
The Nations League point away to Bulgaria was an unspectacular start to the Kenny era. His side had the better chances but shipped a sloppy goal then required a towering Shane Duffy header to bail them out.
As always, a lack of cutting edge is a problem for Ireland. Nineteen-year-old Norwich striker Adam Idah was handed his debut in Sofia, flanked by Aaron Connelly, 20, and 25-year-old Callum O'Dowda in a trio with zero international goals between them.
Idah endured a tough night and is likely to make way for Shane Long or David McGoldrick in Dublin as Ireland look for more attacking threat.
They welcome a Finland team who made a losing start to the group, conceding 10 minutes from time to go down 1-0 at home to Wales.
The Finns, however, still have a feelgood factor about them, having qualified for their first major finals by securing runners-up spot in their Euro 2020 group.
How do the bookies view it?
Kenny's side are 4-5 at Unibet to mark his first home game in charge with a win, while the Finns are 4-1 at Betway and the draw pays 13-5 at Unibet.
Betting angles
It's unlikely to be a classic, but the Irish – unbeaten in seven at home – should do enough to eke out a first victory for their new gaffer.
As mentioned above, though, they can find goals hard to come by. Therefore, a home win and under 3.5 looks a solid shout at 6-5 with Boylesports.
A riskier play is the hosts to win by a one-goal margin, which tempts at 11-5 with Betfair, while the hosts not to lose coupled with under 2.5 match goals is a bet365 bet builder at 4-5 that's worth consideration.
As centre-back Duffy's goal on Thursday proved, the Irish are nifty at set-pieces and tend to get plenty of them.
They won the corner count 5-1 in Bulgaria, and will again look to make the most of their aerial prowess. Back the Irish to have most corners and half-time and full-time at 3-4 with William Hill.
This UEFA Nations League match between Republic of Ireland and Finland will be played on Sep 6, 2020 and kick off at 17:00. Check below for our tipsters best Republic of Ireland vs Finland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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