Republic of Ireland host Bulgaria in the second leg of their 2024-25 UEFA Nations League B/C promotion-relegation play-off.
With a 2-1 aggregate lead from the first leg following comeback goals from Finn Azaz and Matt Doherty, Ireland will avoid relegation if they manage to take a win or draw at home.
Bulgaria meanwhile must simply win if want promotion to League B for the next Nations League edition, although victory by an one-goal margin would send the tie to extra-time and potentially penalties.
Team News
Ireland have no fresh injury concerns to report following the first leg in Plovdiv.
Bulgaria will be without Zhivko Atanasov due to suspension following his second yellow card of the campaign in their home leg.
Dimitar Mitov, Viktor Popov and Aleks Petkov withdrew due to injury.
When is Kick-Off?
Ireland host Bulgaria at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, on Sunday 23 March at 7:45pm GMT, live on Amazon in the UK at a pay-per-view cost of £2.49 per customer.
Stat Attack
- Ireland are yet to lose to Bulgaria in the Nations League (W1, D2).
- Bulgaria drew 0-0 in their only previous Nations League visit to Ireland in November 2020.
- Both teams have scored in two of their three Nations League meetings, with Ireland scoring three goals to Bulgaria’s two.
- Ireland lost two of their last three home games in the Nations League by 2-0 results, which came against England and Greece respectively in September 2024.
- Bulgaria have won one of their last five away games in all competitions (W1, D3, L1).
Prediction
With a 2-1 aggregate lead from the first leg where they recovered well from a sloppy start on a tricky pitch, Ireland now need to bring their first-half attacking quality because this is theirs to lose and scoring first will reduce some pressure on them here.
Bulgaria though won’t make this easy if they are as clinical as they were initially at home and can get the opening goal, but their away form suggests that a huge performance is needed if they’re to win or at least force extra time.
I however do think that Ireland should be just too strong at home if they can build upon their first-leg performance and avoid any sloppy defensive play.
Prediction: ROI 1-0 Bulgaria
