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Nations Cup Betting: Republic of Ireland odds on favourites for inaugural tournament

The inaugural Nations Cup gets underway this week and the betting suggests that the hosts Republic of Ireland are favourites to win it as they are currently 10/11 on with Paddy Power bookmakers. The tournament is based on a league format, with all matches to be played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, and the opening fixture on Tuesday sees the Republic host Wales.

Scotland then play Northern Ireland on Wednesday as the teams look to pick up an early win for the tournament which finishes at the end of May. The country hosting the tournament will rotate between each of the home nations each year, with England the most notable absentee, and Republic of Ireland will be confident of recording a home victory this year.

Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland are the highest ranked country in the FIFA world rankings at 35 and boast a wealth of Premier League experience. Ciaran Clark and Seamus Coleman, of Aston Villa and Everton respectively, will make their debuts against Wales, but Robbie Keane, James McCarthy, Liam Lawrence and Leon Best are all out. The competition is seen as important preparation for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers, with Ireland playing Macedonia in March, and Trapattoni will be keen to reverse a run of three matches without a win.

Their opponents on Tuesday, Wales, are available at an industry best price of 5/1 to win the Nations Cup in the betting with Paddy Power. They will be hoping the arrival of Gary Speed as manager will improve their fortunes as they too are without a win in three, with their last win coming against Luxembourg. They are the lowest ranked side, at 116, in the competition and are without Aaron Ramsey, Boaz Myhill, Craig Morgan, Craig Bellamy and Gareth Bale, and it would seem Speed has quite a job on his hands starting on Tuesday.

Scotland, ranked 54 in the world, start their campaign on Wednesday and are second favourites at 11/4 with PaddyPower.com. Manager Craig Levein was much maligned for his infamous 4-6-0 formation in the 1-0 loss to Czech Republic, but since then they very nearly upset Spain and have beaten the Faroe Islands. They are without Lee McCulloch, Darren Fletcher and Graham Dorrans this week but they appear to be a side on the up and their clash against Northern Ireland could be an early indicator of how both sides will do in the Nations Cup.

Nigel Worthington's Northern Ireland are an industry best bet 5/1 with Paddy Power and could be worth a look as they are unbeaten in their last four, including a 0-0 draw at Italy. Ranked 38 in the world, they are missing players too as Aaron Hughes, Kyle Lafferty and Chris Brunt are out, but they did win the last home international series back in 1984 and it would be a bonus if they could claim some silverware in 2011.

Nations Cup outright winner odds

10/11 Republic of Ireland
11/4 Scotland
5/1 Northern Ireland
5/1 Wales

Odds supplied by PaddyPower.com who offer a variety of betting markets for all the Nations Cup fixtures, including live betting in-running.

Posted: Monday, 7th February 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: nations cup, republic of ireland, wales, paddypower,

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