Belgium have enjoyed 62% possession but have done little with it while the Irish are waiting to pounce of any mistake and catch the visitors on the counter-attack.

A first sniff of goal for the vistors as captain Youri Tielemans gets up to meet a cross from the left but the Aston Villa midfielder's header fails to trouble Caoimhin Kelleher.

John O'Shea will like what he's seeing from his Republic side, who are showing urgeny and a desire to quickly close down the opposition.

Chiedozie Ogbene spurns a great chance to give the Irish an early lead - he's fed down the left and sprints into the box before smashing into the side netting.

Big miss but good signs for the hosts.

Image source, Getty Images

Off we go in a breezy Dublin.

Celtic's Rocco Vata scored a hat-trick to help the Republic of Ireland Under-21s secure a dominant 7-0 win away to San Marino on Friday.

Vata was one of four visiting players on target to help the Republic remain on track to qualify for the 2025 European Under-21 Championship.

You can read the match report from last night's game right here

Image source, Inpho

It'll be a big night for Everton's Seamus Coleman in Dublin as he returns to the international scene for the first time in 12 months.

The full-back was hurt against Leicester last May and returned to Everton duty in December.

"I kind of thought that might have been it," said Coleman. "It looked to be a bad injury."

His last match in the green of the Republic of Ireland?

Battling against PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe as Les Bleus ran out narrow 1-0 winners.

Read more of Coleman's pre-match thoughts here.

Image source, Inpho

The <interim> gaffer is looking sharp ahead of his first time in the Republic of Ireland managers seat

Image source, Inpho

There are a few new faces in the Republic of Ireland set-up for these friendlies with Belgium and Switzerland and one is set to win his first cap.

Blackburn Rovers striker Sammie Szmodics is named in the starting XI while Lyon defender Jake O'Brien and Middlesbrough midfielder Finn Azaz are on the bench.

Image source, Inpho

Blackburn Rovers forward Sammie Szmodics has been handed a Republic of Ireland debut by interim boss John O'Shea.

It's reward for a superb season after topping the Championship scoring charts with 21 goals.

Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher and Andrew Omobamidele are the only two survivors from November's 1-1 draw with New Zealand, which was Stephen Kenny's last game in charge.

Szmodics is part of an attack that also includes Chiedozie Ogbene and Evan Ferguson.

Belguim manager Domenico Todesco has also rung the changes in the absence of star pair Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, who hit four goals in their last outing against Azerbaijan.

Youri Tielemans captains the side and he comes in along with Matz Sels, Lois Openda, Pliver Deman, Arthur Vermeeran and Koni de Winter.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The omens don't look great for a home win in Dublin today.

The Republic have failed to win any of their last eight matches against Belgium (D5 L3) since a 3-2 away victory back in May 1966 while Belgium are unbeaten in their last seven visits to the Irish capital.

Each of their last four ending as draws, most recently a 2-2 stalemate in March 2022, so the form suggests the spoils could be shared again.

When it comes to "friendly" matches, both sides have impressive records of late.

Belgium have only lost one of their last 20 friendly matches (W11 D8), losing 2-1 to Egypt in November 2022 and they haven’t lost a friendly game against a European nation since September 2016 against Spain.

Republic of Ireland have only lost two of their last 16 friendly matches (W8 D6), losing 3-0 against England in November 2020 and 2-1 against Norway in November 2022.

Image source, Inpho

Interim coach John O'Shea is in charge of the Republic of Ireland for today's home friendly against Belgium and Tuesday's game in Dublin against Switzerland before he hands on the reins to the new boss.

At least that's what we're assuming with the Football Association of Ireland on record as saying that it intends to announce the new gaffer early month.

But given the delays and the twists in the turns in this saga to find a successor to Stephen Kenny, the latest of which was Lee Carsley finally being ruled out of the running in midweek, one wonders what might happen if O'Shea happens to rally this underachieving squad into producing two decent performances over the next four days?

O'Shea has played a clever game since being announced as the interim boss on 28 February. Hinting that he believes he would be ready to take on the role full-time while in no way criticising the FAI's elongated decision-making.

The interim boss has put his own stamp on the squad by ensuring that in-form Blackburn striker Sammie Szmodics will earn an overdue first cap with Lyon centre-back Jake O'Brien and Middlesbrough's Finn Azaz also set to make their debuts.

Belgium, who will face England on Tuesday as they continue their build-up to the Euro 2024 finals, will be without Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, who both have groin issues at the moment.

The world's fourth-ranked team are on an 11-match unbeaten run and have not tasted defeat in their last seven away games against the Republic, who are currently a lowly 62nd in Fifa's ratings.

Image source, Inpho