Republic of Ireland v Greece: Greeks won't come bearing gifts | OneFootball

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Seamus Coleman was part of the Republic side that lost to England

After nailing a 3.66 Bet Builder last night, Kevin Hatchard's back with another tip from the Nations League, as the Republic of Ireland look to bounce back from their defeat to England.

Republic of Ireland v GreeceTuesday 10 September, 19:45

A strong start to the week last night, as Ousmane Dembélé had more than the two shots we needed, Jules Koundé had more than the foul we needed, and Lois Openda hit the target. Oh, and by the way, France beat Belgium 2-0.

We'll head to Dublin now, because the Republic of Ireland hope to recover from a morale-sapping defeat against England, as they take on Greece.

It was a difficult debut for new Republic coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, as his team were outclassed in the first half before making a marked improvement at 2-0 down. He admitted he needed to get to know his new players, and that performance will have taught him a lot. Former Iceland boss Halgrimsson was dismayed by the ease with which England scored their goals, but he also made the point that there has to be an element of realism when judging his side's displays against the top teams.

Halgrimsson knows he must lift the team after an ultimately frustrating spell under Stephen Kenny, who said all the right things but never managed to deliver the results. The Republic have won just two of their last 10 games in the Nations League, and in the qualifiers for Euro 2024 they finished fourth in their group, with only Gibraltar below them.

Greece were part of that section, and they came close to a top-two finish, only for the Netherlands to edge them out 1-0 in Athens with a last-gasp penalty from Virgil van Dijk. They then lost in agonising fashion in the playoffs, as they were beaten by Georgia in Tblisi in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. Gus Poyet has since stepped down as coach, and his replacement is the much-travelled former Panathinaikos boss Ivan Jovanovic.

Jovanovic made a strong start, as Greece dismantled Finland 3-0 a few days ago. The hosts were 2-0 up inside 37 minutes, and they never looked back. Now they face a Republic of Ireland side that they beat 2-0 in Dublin as recently as October, and in the reverse fixture Greece won 2-1.

Greece can be backed Draw No Bet here at 2.04. If the game is drawn, our stake is returned, but if Greece win we get a healthy payout. There's little to suggest that the Republic of Ireland have improved enough since their meetings with Greece last year to back them with any kind of confidence. The Republic have never beaten Greece in five meetings, and I don't think they'll snap that run here.

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