Hungary v Republic of Ireland: Kenny looks to spoil party

Hungary v Republic of Ireland
Tuesday June 8, 19:00
Live On Sky Sports

A fixture of role reversal

Nine years ago, the Republic of Ireland travelled to Hungary for a friendly that was scheduled as a warm-up ahead of the European Championships.

It was Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland that were Euros bound, stopping over in Budapest en route to the finals in Poland where they were facing an extremely tricky group with Spain, Italy and Croatia (they lost all three games).

Hungary were just there to provide opposition before heading off on holidays while the continent's best got down to business.

We have a role reversal on Tuesday evening as the two sides meet again. Hungary are the team with a major tournament on the mind, and they are looking to push restrictions to fit as many fans as possible into the 15,000 capacity Szusza Ferenc Stadion as they look for some good vibes ahead of their Euros adventure.

They, too, are heading into the Group of Death with Portugal, France and Germany but will at least get to play their first two games at home.

Stephen Kenny's Ireland are merely the warm-up act, a team looking for a game to try and finish a disappointing season with a bit of positivity. They will be Euros spectators.

Kenny can't afford to write it off as a meaningless game, though, as every match is important for him right now

The winning trail

The Irish manager's wait for a win was ended by Thursday's 4-1 victory over Andorra, although they did fall behind early in second half to set alarm bells ringing.

Spurs teenager Troy Parrott was the hero, scoring twice in quick succession to avoid embarrassment and bounce back from a tricky year at club level where loan spells at Millwall and Ipswich did not produce a glut of goals. Jason Knight and Daryl Horgan also chipped in with their first international goals.

Hungary are a different animal of an opponent so the extent to which momentum can be generated from Andorra is questionable. However, Parrott might have played himself into the side for that game now he's on form. Seamus Coleman is out again through injury but Kenny does have options to mix things up. He played a 4-2-3-1 in Andorra with Parrott as the number ten behind James Collins. A frustration in the first half was the extent to which Conor Hourihane and Josh Cullen dropped deep to pick up possession in safe areas.

Kenny pointed out that their approach might be effective against better sides to try and gain a degree of control, and they will have a giddy home crowd to deal with so sustained spells of possession might be required to quieten the din. If the manager wanted to bring more experience into the fray he could add Harry Arter as an extra midfielder or draft Shane Duffy into defence. Hourihane would perhaps be more effective pressed further up the park.

He could also flip to the back three system that was used in March and that move would open up the possibility of matching a Hungarian side that likes to operate with 5-3-2 and wing backs.

The Hungary motivation

From a punting perspective, the Hungarian approach to this fixture is the key variable to consider.

We are seeing friendlies around Europe where nations with a bigger prize in mind are fearful of picking up injuries and managing the minutes of key men while also looking for performances that create genuine competition for places.

Hungary coach Marco Rossi picked a team that was a combination of experienced heads and relatively new faces for their 1-0 victory over Cyprus on Friday and said that the plan would be to give every squad member a chance across their two friendlies.

It makes preparation slightly complicated for Kenny as it will be a guessing game. Striker Filip Holender got 90 minutes against Cyprus but that probably means he's less likely to figure.

German based attackers Adam Szalai and Roland Sallai may come into the equation. Szalai, their captain, plays for Mainz. Sallai is a Freiburg employee. But that all depends on the fitness of the individuals in question. Hungary do have a week until their opening game but Rossi made six subs during the Cyprus match so we can expect more of the same here.

Two pronged strategy

This is a tricky game to call with the stronger team likely to rotate their options. In a strange way, Ireland's need for a result is greater, much as Hungary would like to bring some good vibes forward and deliver in front of an expectant crowd. But this could be one of those friendlies that has a pattern for 60 minutes which is broken by substitutes. Kenny may also feel like he needs to give minutes to squad members as a reward for coming away for 11 days although the suspicion lingers he may not tinker too much if it's tight.

Hungary have been involved in some entertaining games recently but there's a possibility this game may reach the stage where a no fuss draw inevitably comes into sight, especially if the intensity drops off in the latter stages.

And if Ireland do fall behind, Kenny may throw the kitchen sink at it to go in search of a badly needed result whereas Hungary will probably operate with a bit more freedom while perhaps trying out a few things with the Euros in mind. Taking all of these elements into consideration, the 2.962/1 about a draw is the appealing bottom line conclusion.

From a trading perspective, the alternative way to approach it would be to play the Under 1.5 Goals at 2.466/4 as a flurry of early activity would be a surprise.

The danger with getting invested in an outcome in these friendlies is that the proliferation of subs can make things loose and lead to strange events in the dying stages. Also, the Kenny era has been packed with late goals. In other words, there's greening up potential in that particular market in case there happens to be a late twist.

All of the above might just be a polite way of encouraging backers to explore the various options around a joyless scoreless draw prediction. It's a 6.25/1 shot in case you're wondering. After all, that is how the aforementioned 2012 clash panned out.