91Èȱ¬

Here we go as Ireland fans return to the Aviva. Is this the day Stephen Kenny gets his first competitive win?

Image source, Getty Images

Hey, who wants some depressing stats?

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 14 competitive matches, their longest run in their history.

They haven’t scored in any of their last four home matches, their worst run in their international history.

After losing 1-0 to Luxembourg in their first World Cup 2022 qualifier, the Republic of Ireland are looking to avoid losing two consecutive home matches in qualifying for a major tournament since losing to Italy and Austria in May 1971 in European Championship qualifying.

There are seven World Cup qualifiers at 19:45 BST. Stick round in this live text for the evening and we'll bring you updates from them.

Slovakia v Croatia

Ukraine v France

Gibraltar v Turkey

Netherlands v Montenegro

Faroe Islands v Denmark

Israel v Austria

Scotland v Moldova (there will be a dedicated 91Èȱ¬ Scotland live text for this game)

There are four other games at 17:00 BST, most notably Serbia v Luxembourg (second v third) in Ireland's group.

Also...

Cyprus v Russia

Slovenia v Malta

Latvia v Norway

The key for the Irish is turning promising performances into results.

Stephen Kenny has tried to get the Republic getting a more attractive style of play.

Performances have been mixed and while some fans are happy to see Ireland trying to 'play football', others point to the dreadful results, including a defeat by Luxembourg.

A lot of the good will from the Portugal performance will go if they cannot beat Azerbaijan tonight.

"We can see the team evolve and progress and we know we want to go and perform well and show our quality and put in a really strong display and hopefully get the victory we need," said Kenny

"There's no point on me reflecting on 'what if' and wondering. We have to be positive and try to go to win."

The Republic of Ireland will play in front of their first home crowd since November 2019, a 1-1 draw with Denmark.

That was their final Euro 2020 qualifier and ended up being Mick McCarthy's last game in charge.

“The fans will get behind the players," said boss Stephen Kenny. "They’ve not been in the ground since the Denmark game a long time ago.

“They’ve great affinity with the players and they’ll want to get behind them, to help inspire the players to a home win."

Do you think tonight will be the night Stephen Kenny gets his first competitive win as Republic of Ireland manager?

Is he the man for the job?

Let us know via text or twitter.

The Republic of Ireland are already in 'have to win every game and pray' territory now, a whole seven points behind the play-off place with five games to go.

Stephen Kenny's only win in 14 games was a comeback friendly victory against Andorra.

He has failed to win in the Nations League, Euro 2020 play-off or World Cup qualifiers.

The Republic make three changes from that Portugal game.

Troy Parrott, Jayson Molumby and James McClean are in.

Jeff Hendrick and Jamie McGrath are benched and Dara O'Shea is injured.

Callum Robinson and Alan Browne are among the subs after missing the Portugal game for Covid reasons.

It's a young front three of Parrott, Adam Idah and Aaron Connolly.

Republic of Ireland: Bazunu, Coleman, Duffy, Egan, Doherty, Molumby, Cullen, McClean, Connolly, Parrott, Idah. Subs: Horgan, Curtis, Omobamidele, Manning, Kelleher, Hourihane, McGrath, James Collins, Talbot, Hendrick, Robinson, Browne.

Azerbaijan: Mahammadaliyev, Medvedev, Haghverdi, Badalov, Krivotsyuk, Mahmudov, Garayev, Tural Bayramov, Alasgarov, Emreli, Ozobic. Subs: Mustafayev, Dzhenetov, Nuriyev, Huseynov, Akhmedzade, Sadikhov, Salahli, Aydin Bayramov, Ibrahhimli, Mustafazade, Sheydayev, Khalilzade.

I've actually depressed myself all over again by writing that opening entry.

Image source, Getty Images

Of course what actually happened was the Irish were leading 1-0 in Faro through John Egan's goal until the 89th minute.

Then Cristiano Ronaldo broke Irish hearts with two headers to give Portugal a 2-1 win and become the highest scoring player ever in men's international football.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The Republic of Ireland come into this game on the back of arguably the greatest result in their qualification history.

Stephen Kenny finally won over all the doubters with a sensational 1-0 win in Portugal.

And crucially it kick-started Ireland's World Cup qualifying bid.

Those are all things I would be saying if Cristiano Ronaldo did not exist.