• Ireland have won their last three qualifying matches against Armenia, Hungary and Portugal - keeping clean sheets in two of those.

• Czechia have only conceded eight goals across their eight qualifying matches.

• Troy Parrott has scored five goals across just 195 minutes of action during qualifying matches.

• Patrick Schick is Czechia's top goalscorer in qualifying with four goals across just six starts.

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📈 Czechia v Ireland Form & Stats

Czechia are quite a solid side and will expect to be at the World Cup this summer, given their recent record of appearing at major tournaments, and the quality level of their squad, which is a level above Ireland. Czechia finished six points behind Croatia in the qualifying campaign, but didn’t have much to fight against with the other nations in their group being Faroe Islands, Montenegro and Gibraltar.

Czechia did manage to score 18 goals across their eight qualifying matches (2.25 per game), but the quality of their opponents should be factored in when analysing this. The Czechs should expect a harder challenge here than they were faced with in the entirety of the qualifying campaign, Croatia aside, which may benefit Ireland’s chances of taking something from the tie.

Ireland carry real momentum into this fixture having won their last three qualifying matches against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary. The wins against Portugal and Hungary are the most significant, as they will provide Ireland with actual hope that they can battle through to the World Cup in the summer.

📔 Czechia v Ireland Formation & Team News

Czechia are expected to line up in a 4-4-2 shape, they can switch to a 4-2-3-1 at times - but I think you are more likely to see that in situations where the Czechia are chasing the game. I think they’ll try and dominate early on in this tie, knowing that the second leg will be a lot tougher for them to navigate as the away side.

Czechia are a very stubborn side and don’t allow a lot of space behind their backline. However, I can see a situation developing where Czechia are a bit too overeager in trying to stamp their authority on this game - leading to Ireland getting opportunities in transition and on the counter-attack.

Ireland will be quite cautious in the early stages of this clash, it’s important that they don’t get blown away in the first 20-30 minutes of this contest, as they will have a realistic chance of progressing if they can stay in the game and get Czechia to panic or lose their solid structure to allow Ireland to get those opportunities in transition.

🔮 Football Predictions at Andy's Bet Club

You can keep up with the best Free Betting Tips for this week, including World Cup Predictions, on ABC.

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For Thursday's football, we have World Cup Qualifier Accumulator Tips, as well as Italy v Northern Ireland Predictions, Wales v Bosnia and Herzegovina Predictions and England v Uruguay Bet Builder Tips.

The 2026 World Cup is on the horizon. On ABC, you can expect World Cup Betting Tips and World Cup 2026 Free Bet Offers.

* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.