England are on the back foot in qualifying for the Women’s European Championship but they have a golden chance to record a win when they take on struggling Ireland in Norwich on Friday.
The Lionesses are on seven points in their qualifying group, just behind Sweden on goal difference and two points adrift of leaders France.
The section is congested but as it stands, England would have to go through the play-off route to qualify for Euro 2025 and they will be eager to seize the initiative with a victory at Carrow Road.
Ireland, meanwhile, can only hope to make the play-off positions after losing each of their opening four qualifiers.
Team news
Lauren James, Lotte Wubben-Moy and Kayla Rendell recently withdrew from the England squad, while goalkeeper Mary Earps and defender Niamh Charles are also out.
Ireland have a lengthy list of absentees with Heather Payne, Tara O’Hanlon, Chloe Mustaki, Jamie Finn and Kyra Carusa all sidelined.
The stats
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Ireland have lost all four of their Women’s Euro 2025 qualifiers, conceding seven goals and scoring none in the process.
That has contributed to a six-match winless streak for the Girls in Green and they have not yet scored in 2024.
Since losing to Spain in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, England have posted eight wins from 12 matches in all competitions, most recently beating France 2-1.
Ireland have managed to keep things tight in qualifying for the Women’s Euros so far with three of their four matches featuring under 2.5 goals.
Prediction
With a crunch final qualifier against Sweden to come next Tuesday, Sarina Wiegman will have made it clear to England the importance of stamping their authority on this penultimate qualifier.
Republic of Ireland have looked out of their depth in this qualifying campaign, losing all of their matches and failing to score in the process.
With home advantage behind them, England know anything other than a straightforward win will raise eyebrows and they should get the job done.
The Lionesses lost to France at the end of May but responded with a 2-1 win of their own over Les Bleues in early June.
That was the scoreline when England beat Ireland back in April and two of their four qualifiers for Euro 2025 have featured under 2.5 goals.
With the Sweden game just over the horizon, England are unlikely to push if they establish an early advantage and they could settle for a low-scoring victory at Carrow Road.
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