The home nations look to extend their excellent star to Euro 2016 qualifying…
It’s been an incredible start to Euro 2016 qualification for the home nations. England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will all be looking to protect unbeaten records, while Scotland’s only defeat as come at the hands of World Champions Germany.
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CaughtOffside takes a look at their chances this week:
England
The Three Lions have made a perfect start to qualifying – with three wins out of three and no goals conceded. A 2-0 win over main rivals Switzerland was backed-up by victories against San Marino (5-0) and Estonia (1-0).
This weekend will mark their final competitive fixture of 2014, where they will take on Slovenia at Wembley. Wins over Switzerland and Lithuania have taken the visitors to second place in Group E, and they will be hoping to prove a stern test for Roy Hodgson’s side.
Northern Ireland
The Irish will be incredulous about their start to qualifying. Three wins against Hungary, the Faroe Islands and Greece, with just one goal conceded, already have them five points clear of the third place team in an automatic qualification spot.
On Friday, they take on second place Romania, knowing a win, or even a draw, will put them in the driver’s seat for a spot in France come 2016. Romania have seven points thus far, having beaten Greece and Finland, either side of a draw with Hungary.
Republic of Ireland
Two wins and a draw have the Republic second in the ‘group of death’, behind leaders Poland on goal difference. Wins over minnows Georgia and Gibraltar were backed up by a superb draw with World Champions Germany last time out.
On Friday, they travel to Scotland to take on another of the home nations. A win will leave them in a fantastic position prior to the game against Poland in March of next year.
Scotland
Four points from three games have Scotland in fourth place in their group, behind Poland, Republic of Ireland and Germany. After being narrowly beaten by the latter in their opening game, they defeated Georgia and secured a point against the Poles.
Their game with the Republic on Friday is likely to prove decisive, with a home win giving them a great shot at qualification, while a defeat could leave them all but eliminated at this early stage.
Wales
Gareth Bale inspired wins over Andorra and Cyprus bookmark a creditable draw with World Cup finalists Bosnia, as Wales top their group after three games – one point ahead of Israel who have a game in hand.
They face a tough task on Sunday as they take on European giants and top seeds Belgium. However, the Welsh know any sort of result will leave them in an excellent performance moving forward, with a trip to Israel to come in March.
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