Ireland vs. Estonia: 5 Bold Predictions for First Leg of the Euro 2012 Playoffs

The Euro 2012 playoffs are upon us and I couldn't be happier. Why? Because it's the time of the tournament where the underdogs get the spotlight. There's eight different second-place teams battling it out for a spot in next summer's finals.

Sure, Germany, Italy and Spain all won their groups and punched their tickets as though they were taking candy from a baby (and let's face it, that is an apt description for how easy it was to win over countries like San Marino and Andorra). Now, with the exception of Portugal, you've got the underdogs going up against the underdogs.

But of the four playoffs starting on Friday, the one to watch is Ireland vs. Estonia.

Ireland will enter their first playoff since France's Thierry Henry literally "handed" the Boys In Green their pink slip from the most recent World Cup. But it can all be remedied with a smashing victory over the Estonians and a prayer to Saint Patrick that Ireland and France find their way into the same group for the Euro 2012 finals.

But just because you can't find Estonia on a map doesn't mean you should count them out just yet. The little eastern European nation that could came out of Group C, the hardest group in my opinion. With countries like Italy, Serbia, Slovenia and Northern Ireland, just getting second-place is an achievement in itself.

It'll be a great match, punctuated by physical play and excellent goalkeeping.

So, without further ado, I give you my bold predictions for the first leg of the playoffs between Ireland and Estonia.

This prediction isn't so much because of Ireland's proficiency at scoring goals, but because of Estonia's tendency to give them up to inferior opponents.

In every match in the preliminary stages of the Euro 2012 tournament, Estonia gave up at least one goal. In contrast, Ireland had five clean sheets—half their matches.

While it's true that manager Giovanni Trappatoni put into place a very conservative game plan, allowing Ireland to minimize opportunities for the defense, it doesn't change the fact that Ireland has one of the best back lines and one of the best European goalkeepers in Shay Given.

In short, Ireland will score first because Estonia's back line is woefully mediocre and their goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko (pictured) can't collect a clean sheet to save his life. It's as simple as that.

One look at Estonia's matches from the preliminary round shows that they do not start well and that the back line is weak early in the match.

In their first match, Estonia gave up a goal in the 28th minute off a free kick by Faroe Islands.

In their fifth match, Estonia's back line was out of position against Serbia and allowed a goal in the 28th minute.

In their seventh match, Estonia gave up another early goal in the 21st minute to the Italians.

In their eighth match against Slovenia, Estonia gave up an early goal in the 29th minute.

In their final match of the preliminary round, Estonia gave up a goal to Northern Ireland in the 20th minute.

That's half their matches where they've given up goals in the first 30 minutes. Ireland is more than capable of putting one in the back of the net and I predict they will. Put Robbie Keane down for a goal in the first half hour of the match.

Ireland and Estonia are physical teams that have a tendency to get a little chippy, especially in tight situations (and what's tighter than a two-game playoff?)

Richard Dunne led Ireland with four of his country's 19 yellow cards in the tournament. Raio Piiroja led the way for Estonia with three of his country's 20 yellow cards. Estonia's Sander Puri and Ireland's Kevin Doyle had one red card a piece.

I realize that if those averages hold up it means that only four players will be booked. But this is a much bigger game than most of the ones played throughout the preliminary round for either team. 

Look at Ireland's last preliminary game against Armenia. They needed a win or they were out of the tournament and they had five bookings—four yellow cards and Doyle being sent off.

It's going to be more of the same on Friday night and I for one cannot wait.

I'll bet you just scoffed at me when I told you that Shay Given was one of the best goalkeepers in Europe.

Don't believe me then, believe the numbers. In nine matches during the preliminary round, Given gave up six goals. That's an average of 0.67 goals given up per match.

Who else has that kind of average?

Of goalkeepers that played at least six full games, only Italy's Gianluigi Buffon (0.17), France's Hugo Lloris (0.40), Belarus' Yuri Zhevnov (0.63), England's Joe Hart (0.63) had a better average than Given. And only Lloris bested Given's five clean sheets.

Estonia was shut out three times in preliminary play, and I'm predicting that Friday will mark the fourth.

Why? Because they'll lose—and lose convincingly.

I have Ireland scoring a goal within the first 25 minutes, but I think the Boys In Green will score another one late in the match. Perhaps fan favorite Stephen Hunt will finally get on the score line for this tournament.

Also, home-field advantage has meant little to Estonia during the preliminary stages of the Euro 2012 tournament. Estonia only managed a 2-2-1 record when playing at A. Le Coq Arena.

I have Ireland taking a 2-0 advantage into the second leg on Tuesday night in Dublin. What about you?