UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying: Switzerland vs Ireland preview

We have a decisive match in UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Group D on Tuesday, when Switzerland host Ireland at Stade de Geneve in Geneva. The reverse fixture, played just one month ago, ended 1-1 in Dublin, with David McGoldrick netting the equalizer after Fabian Schar had opened the scoring for Switzerland. The Swiss have won two of the last six direct matches between the two teams, while Ireland have won just one. 

Switzerland have suffered a major setback in the qualification campaign last week, they lost 1-0 in Denmark and dropped to third place in the group table, four points behind both Ireland and Denmark. The Swiss do have a game in hand and the three points are almost guaranteed as they will play Gibraltar in that match, but they still need to beat Ireland if they want to leapfrog them into second spot. Their last two matches in the group are against Gibraltar away and Georgia at home, so it's almost certain that they would get six points. 

Ireland are still undefeated in this qualifying campaign, but they have quite a bit of trouble scoring goals it seems. Last week they got held to a goalless draw in Georgia, a result that complicates things quite a bit for the Irish. They have scored two goals in just one match so far, and that was the 2-0 victory against Gibraltar, a team that conceded 16 goals in five matches. The last group match for Ireland is a tricky home game against Denmark, if they lose against Switzerland then they would have to win that last game at all cost. Enda Stevens is available again after having served a suspension in last week's match. 

Probable line-ups: 

Switzerland: Sommer - Schar, Akanji, Elvedi - Mbabu, Zakaria, Xhaka, Rodriguez - Embolo, Seferovic, Freuler

Ireland: Randolph - Coleman, Duffy, Egan, Stevens - Robinson, Hendrick, Whelan, Hourihane, McClean - Connolly

My prediction: 

Ireland have conceded just two goals in six matches so far, but they have only scored six, so I think they will not find the back of the net in Geneva. On the other hand, Switzerland created a few chances last week against Denmark and I think they will do so again and probably win 1-0. 

Here are the odds for the match at NetBet: 

Switzerland win - 1.54

Draw - 4.10

Ireland win - 6.25