Slovakia suffered a shock 3-1 defeat in Armenia, although the outcome was fair as Armenia were the better side. Slovakia had gone into the match as joint-leaders of Group B having won their first two qualifiers against Macedonia (1-0) and Russia (1-0) but they will be nervously looking over their shoulders now.
Republic of Ireland also lost last Friday, suffering a 3-2 home defeat against Russia in a game in which they humiliatingly trailed 3-0 at one point. Having had only a few days to recover, it's asking a lot for Giovanni Trapattoni's men to produce a much-improved performance, although defensively they ought to be better after an uncharacteristically poor display against the Russians.
Both sides have personnel problems. Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel is suspended, while Ireland striker Kevin Doyle is ruled out with a knee injury after limping off last week. Defender Richard Dunne ought to recover from a knee knock.
We're still at an early stage in the Euro 2012 qualifiers and the form patterns for these two sides are poor, so it's difficult to draw too many conclusions about their chances. The Republic have an excellent away record of W4-D3-L0 in competitive away games under Trapattoni, so my preference is to lay Slovakia at 2.56/4 or back the visitors - who are 3.3512/5 to win - at -0 on the Asian handicap at 2.26/5.
Recommended bet: Republic of Ireland -0 Asian handicap @ 2.26/5.
* Slovakia v Republic of Ireland, Sky Sports 3, Tuesday, 7.30pm kick-off