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6th September 2017
08:55am BST
First off, the house-keeping. James McClean and Robbie Brady picked up yellow cards and are suspended for the Moldova game. James McCarthy, Jeff Hendrick and Eunan O'Kane may be back to full fitness but we would only select Hendrick out of that trio.
We are going with a 3-5-2 selection that should provide the necessary width to stretch the Eastern Europeans, who are only likely to play one up front and stack their midfield. O'Neill loves playing four at the back so, were he to insist on this, our right wing-back David Meyler can play the conventional role.
Harry Arter can set the tempo and has the ability to split defences with his passing but David Meyler has earned his place in this team. With the Cork native in centre midfield, it can set Wes Hoolahan and Hendrick loose to join attacks.
Up front, Shane Long is dropped and we take the biggest punt seen in Irish football history since Shane Duffy's last rushed clearance. Scott Hogan has declared to play for Ireland and just in time too. This team is in desperate need of a goalscorer and Hogan has 18 in his last 37 starts [Brentford and Aston Villa]. Holding up the ball and bringing others into play is a strength too.
[caption id="attachment_136159" align="aligncenter" width="627"]
Credit: Aston Villa[/caption]
Aiden McGeady gets the left wing-back slot but most of is time should be spent further up the field. Our final selection is Jon Walters, who looked rusty in his last two outings but has another level to go to. The Burnley forward turns 34 on September 20 but has a history of picking Ireland up when they are at a low ebb.
That is exactly what we need right now.
c/o: BuildLineUp[/caption]
Rob Redmond and Conán Doherty have gone with more conservative approaches with a disagreement in the forward line.
Rob's team
Conán's team
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