Denmark host Euro 2020 qualifying rival Ireland on Friday night in Copenhagen with the hope of drawing closer to the Group D leaders.
Manager Age Hareide’s Danish team picked up a thrilling 3-3 draw against Switzerland in their first Group D match.
The Danes allowed Switzerland to score three times in under 76 minutes before storming back with a trio of goals in the final six minutes plus stoppage-time. Hareide will hope for a calmer match in which Denmark can play better defensively.
Meanwhile, Ireland have already secured two wins in Group D play. Manager Mick McCarthy’s squad is atop Group D but it must be said the Irish haven’t played the group’s best competition.
Ireland defeated Gibraltar and Georgia in their first two matches, respectively. Both games saw the Irish keep clean sheets and win by just a single goal.
McCarthy will hope for better attacking football against a Denmark team that is expected to qualify for the Euro 2020 tournament proper.
Denmark’s influential midfielder Christian Eriksen is set to feature. Eriksen is coming off of the Champions League Final last weekend in which his team, Tottenham Hotspur, lost to Liverpool 2-0.
Eriksen opened up this week about his desire to leave Tottenham Hotspur for a “new challenge”. Although it won’t make Spurs fans happy, the Danish midfielder will be motivated to play well to improve his chances of a move.
Ireland will be without players Mark Travers, Shane Long, and Alan Browne due to injury. McCarthy had called in teen Luca Connell who was hopeful to gain his first cap after a promising season at Bolton Wanderers.
However, Connell has had to withdraw from the side due to injury as well.
Denmark and Ireland have met 17 times in their history dating back to 1956. The Danes do not have a great record against the Irish having posted a 4W-8D-5L record.
Although historically Denmark haven’t fared well, their recent performances against Ireland have been much better. The teams met twice in World Cup 2018 qualifying and twice in the UEFA Nations League.
Three of those matches ended in draws with only one finishing in a win for Denmark. The Danes’ World Cup qualifying win in November 2017 was the only fixture to see goals with the teams exploding for six combined goals.
Friday night’s fixture should see the two nations play another close match. Ireland will want keep things close defensively and not allow Denmark to get the upper hand.
The two Group D rivals should finish in a score draw with under 2.5 goals going into the nets in Copenhagen.