San Marino U21 vs Republic of Ireland U21 Prediction: Visitors to bounce back & storm to top of table

The Republic of Ireland under 21 team will be looking to head to the top of Group A in their Euros qualifying campaign as they face winless San Marino on Friday (KO, 17:00) at the San Marino Stadium.

Jim Crawford’s men will be looking to bounce back after losing and drawing their last two matches in the chase for their first under 21s Euros, while the hosts will be looking to score to end their poor run of form; they've conceded 24 goals without reply so far. Below is our San Marino U21 vs Republic of Ireland U21 prediction, alongside all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

The Republic of Ireland have handed first U21 call-ups to Newcastle United’s Alex Murphy, Brighton & Hove Albion’s Mark O’Mahony, Drogheda United’s Andrew Wogan and Bradford City’s Calum Kavanagh.

Match Odds

The Republic of Ireland are undeniably the heavy favourites to win this match at 1/80 with a draw at 16/1 and San Marino to take the three points at 28/1.

Republic of Ireland U21 half-time/full-time @ 1/6

When these two nations clashed last September, Rocco Vata shot the Republic of Ireland to an early lead in the opening 10 minutes and the Celtic midfielder cemented their lead with another goal in first-half injury time.

An own goal from San Marino’s Giacomo Matteoni in the second half confirmed Republic of Ireland’s win (3-0) and this could be a clear indication of how tomorrow’s match will play out.

The Republic of Ireland were also winning at half time in the last match they won against fellow Group A competitors Latvia (1-2) in October last year.

Republic of Ireland U21 to win to nil @ 2/7

The hosts infamously have struggled to score in their international matches; the last time they scored was in 2017, when they lost 3-1 to the Czech Republic.

The last match the Republic of Ireland won with a clean sheet was their last showdown against San Marino late last year.

So a win without conceding would improve the confidence of the team that is currently sat second in Group A, just one point behind favourites Italy.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.