16 MINS: Ireland getting a bit more possession now but in contrast to England the visitors look a tad more frantic on the ball.
England slowing play right down in the midfield.
ENGLAND 0 REP OF IRELAND 0
13 MINS: Bellingham is making his presense known, but Ireland’s defense is holding firm. This time Liam Scales sees an end to the Real Madrid player’s effort.
ENGLAND 0 REP OF IRELAND 0
9 MINS: Nathan Collins gets back to herald a cross from Jude Bellingham to safety.
Anthony Gordon sends a weak corner in but Collins’ clearance finds its way back to the Newcastle player.
Caoimhín Kelleher makes light work of managing the attempt on goal.
ENGLAND 0 REP OF IRELAND 0
6 MINS: England holding possession to ease themselves into the game.
Noni Madueke makes the shot but it’s saved. Curtis Jones gets on the end of the clearance but his shot is deflected wide.
From the corner, Kyle Walker gets a head to it but it sails over the crossbar.
Early pressure from the home side.
ENGLAND 0 REP OF IRELAND 0
And we’re under way at Wembley Stadium.
The teams are out for the anthems. Announcement of Amhrán na bhFiann seems to draw a dull boo from the crowd.
Neither anthem is paid much respect from the crowd.
This is your 20-mintue warning. Kick-off at Wembley is at 5pm.
The game is being televised live on RTÉ2.
And the hosts..
ENGLAND: Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, Conor Gallagher, Marc Guéhi, Harry Kane (capt), Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, Curtis Jones, Noni Madueke.
Replacements: Dean Henderson, James Trafford, Rico Lewis, Morgan Gibbs-White, Angel Gomes, Jarell Quansah, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, Jarrod Bowen, Dominic Solanke.
And here’s our starting XI..
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Caoimhín Kelleher, Callum O’Dowda, Dara O’Shea, Liam Scales, Josh Cullen, Sammie Szmodics, Jayson Molumby, Evan Ferguson, Mark McGuinness, Festy Ebosele, Nathan Collins (Capt).
Replacements: Mark Travers, Max O’Leary, Matt Doherty, Ryan Manning, Jake O’Brien, Andrew Moran, Conor Coventry, Finn Azaz, Kasey McAteer, Michael Johnston, Troy Parrott, Tom Cannon.
As for what will come after this evening’s game, the result at Wembley doesn’t really matter to us (except, of course, on a point of pride).
Given our six-point gap to fourth-placed Finland, we’re going to stay right where we are in third. That will put us into next year’s relegation/promotion play-offs, in which we’ll play a group runner-up from League C.
But there is something at stake for England. If they top our group they’ll gain automatic promotion to League A next season, whereas the runner-up will go into a play-off against a third-place finisher from the top flight.
What had our two managers to say for themselves before the game?
Heimir said he feels better prepared this time out having got to know his players that little bit better.
“Maybe I was naive in September, not having done any work with the players prior.
“We’ve had September, October and now November camps, I’m lucky in that sense, the time between camps has been short and we’ve been able to use similar players from camp to camp, so I feel more confident in how we should play against England and I am pretty sure we will be more, how would you say, mature in the way we do things against England than we did against Finland.”
[ ‘Heimir Ball’ needs Ireland to be comfortable out of possessionOpens in new window ]
In the other dugout, Lee Carsley said his focus is “getting the job done” before he hands the keys over to Thomas Tuchel.
“[We’re] fully respectful of Ireland and the strengths that they have, so we have to make sure that we approach the game properly,” said Carsley, who was capped 40 times with the Republic of Ireland as a player.
No confirmation of the starting teams just yet, we’ll let you know when they land.
Yesterday, Gavin Cummiskey had news that Conor Coventry had joined the Republic of Ireland squad for a training session at Abbotstown ahead of their journey to London, coming in for Jason Knight.
Previewing this evening’s game, Gavin writes: “It would be unwise to expect anything other than a clinical English display as victory secures automatic promotion to Nations League A.”
Oh well. Read Gavin’s full preview below:
[ Clinical England strong favourites to sweep Ireland aside at WembleyOpens in new window ]
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to The Irish Times live blog for the Uefa Nations League fixture between England and the Republic of Ireland (kick-off at 5pm). Muireann Duffy here to take you through the day’s action.
Heimir Hallgrímsson & Co are at Wembley Stadium in London for this second leg matchup. England’s trip to Dublin back in September ended in a 2-0 win for the visitors – the goals coming from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish and the irony of which still hasn’t worn off.
England currently sit top of the League B Group 2 table, level with Greece on 12 points but ahead on goal difference.
England’s only loss of this campaign so far came at the hands of the Greeks back in October, when Ivan Jovanović's men took a shock 2-1 win at Wembley. However, England exacted their revenge on Thursday, winning the return leg 3-0.
Meanwhile, Ireland sit third, taking two wins (both against Finland) from their five games played. The latest of those victories was at the Aviva on Thursday, when Evan Ferguson’s 45th-minute strike saw Ireland over the line.
This evening’s game marks Lee Carsley’s last outing as interim manager of the Three Lions, as he’ll make way for the arrival of their new boss, Thomas Tuchel.
