Burning Issue: Do Ireland deserve to be massive underdogs at Wembley tonight?

Looking at the bookies, Ireland have no hope of success tonight against England. Is that fair? Two JOEs debate either side of the argument in today’s Burning Issue.

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Sean Nolan says... 11/2. That’s the odds on an Irish victory in Wembley tonight. To put that in perspective you can get better odds, 5/1, that Conor Sammon, who doesn’t start tonight, will score. In short, the bookies have us as no-hopers tonight. Is that fair? Sadly, it probably is.

Our last game was a frankly demoralising ‘draw from the jaws of a win that felt like a defeat’ against Austria. Before that we had a good game in Sweden but failed to score in a 0-0 draw. That game in Malmo was the best away showing since the away leg of the Estonia play off 18 months ago but we still failed to score and managed zero shots on target. That we were relatively happy after the game speaks volumes about how easily pleased we are these days with the team’s performances away from home.

Which brings us to tonight’s game. England aren’t unbeatable at home but they haven’t lost there for well over a year (and that was to Holland). Under Hodgson England have only lost once home or away, to Sweden 4-2 (the game with that Zlatan goal) but we don’t think you can draw a form line between England's defeat and our draw either.

Here’s the team England sent out that night to play Sweden: Hart, Johnson, Cahill, Caulker, Baines, Gerrard, Osman, Cleverley, Young, Sterling, Welbeck. The likes of Zaha, Shawcross, Jenkinson and Huddlestone all came on. In short, it was a very young, very experimental England team that night and Sweden took advantage late on.

The team we will face tonight will be vastly different. It will include players of the caliber of Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney (with a point to prove). And with the English squad greatly reduced by injuries and withdrawals, there will be no mass benching at the break, this will feel more like a real game than a friendly.

On our side we have our own woes. The team Trapattoni has named is not bad on paper, and I will relish the chance to see Forde, Coleman and McCarthy again prove they are now first-choice Boys in Green.

But with Robbie Keane just in after a very long flight from LA, and Aiden McGeady just off one not much shorter than that from Moscow, there is a fear that those starters may be sluggish and something we can't afford to do is start slowly.

I'm sure the Irish team really wants to win this one, almost certainly more than their counterparts, and that the Irish fanbase will be in very full voice at Wembley, but I just don’t think that will be enough.

While I dearly hope we get a positive result tonight, and wouldn’t rule it out completely, our recent form, our squad and the opposition means we have it all to do.

The odds may seem a little high, but make no mistake, they are about right.

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Declan Whooley says... Ireland will go into tonight’s glamour international friendly – that’s right, glamour and friendly in the same sentence – as underdogs, but the odds offered up by the bookies seem more than generous for my liking.

England at home would fancy their chances against most visiting teams, and as much as it gives many people in this country pleasure in seeing them passed off the field by the likes of Germany and Spain on occasions, the reality is that they are according to FIFA – not always an accurate gauge of a team’s wares admittedly – the seventh best team in the world and only a handful of teams are likely to dominate them.

Trap’s side of course are not expected to starve a team full of established Premier League stars of possession, but what we would expect is a highly competitive fixture. And with a rub of the green to complement the usual work ethic, we realistically could very well get a positive result.

England over the last three years have an impressive friendly record, winning seven from 10, including a memorable victory over Brazil last time out. They also lowered Spanish colours two years ago, but some of the other teams were far from world beaters. And we saw Sweden beat them 4-2 at the end of last year. Now that was largely down to the Zlatan-show, but we have seen first-hand that Sweden are no great shakes even at home.

And the obvious thing to factor in for international friendlies, especially at this time of the year, is motivation. It’s something the Boys in Green won’t be lacking – see Robbie Keane’s efforts to return from LA and face the team he has surely wanted to play against since he was a boy – and it remains to be seen if Roy Hodgson can instil it into his charges. In all likelihood the game will have more significance for the Irish players than their English counterparts and they can be forgiven for focusing their attention on their game with Brazil on Sunday in Rio. And whether Wayne Rooney and possibly Daniel Sturridge have the fight for the battle will play a significant part in the outcome.

The hullabaloo surrounding the English captaincy is another circus which every English manager seems to be seeing in close quarters. Ashley Cole gets rewarded for his 100^thcap on his 102nd appearance, but doesn’t want to speak to the media. Well you wouldn’t either if you had described the FA as a “bunch of twats” only seven months ago. Frank Lampard will lead the team out and even Hodgson himself seemed a little confused by it all at yesterday’s presser.

And then there are the Irish strengths. Away from home has always suited the Trap approach. With the disastrous Euros played on neutral ground, the only game we have lost away during Il Trap’s reign has been to Brazil in London. One defeat away in the last six years away from home (you have to go back to Prague in 2007 for the next loss) further highlights that we are resilient and hard to break down. And perhaps are more committed in friendlies than other countries.

The team is finally taking a bit more shape. Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy are beginning to show the form in a green jersey that has made them such valuable performers for their respective clubs now that Trap is showing his faith in them, Shane Long is getting a deserved run up front and England will have to work hard to break down the two banks of four to get at David Forde.

Robbie Keane was a spectator at Lansdowne Road the last time these two sides met in 1995, and wouldn’t it be fitting if he were to grab a goal tonight after demanding (I mean persuading) the Galaxy to release him so he can win his 124^th cap at Wembley.

We’d take a draw, but we can justifiably hope for a famous win.