Preview: Ireland look to stay in their happy place

The Republic of Ireland are the best team in League B Group 1 of the inaugural UEFA Women's Nations League.

The wins are coming easy, the goals are flowing freely and after the drawnout departure of Vera Pauw, the atmosphere is serene.

It sounds like heaven - but this is purgatory. And the Girls in Green will not be here for long.

If Ireland beat Albania at Tallaght Stadium tonight and then turn them over again in the return fixture on Tuesday, there's a possibility they'll win the group with two games to spare.

That means they'll be promoted to League A where the top 16 teams in Europe reside. It also secures a hugely significant safety net in the form of a guaranteed place in the Euro 2025 play-offs.

The Nations League feeds directly into the qualification process for the tournament, with Ireland - assuming they do win the group - going into a four-team group which will be drawn in the spring.

They will play each team in that group twice. The top two get a ticket to the Euros; third and fourth head for the play-offs.

Those games will be difficult. The new year is sure to bring tense, high-stakes football against the cream of the crop.

All the more reason then to enjoy the relatively stress-free conditions of this current terrain; a landscape where Ireland are unquestionably top of the food chain.

Vera Pauw was staunchly against the introduction of a Nations League in the women's game. She believed it would stunt the progress of the smaller countries as they'd struggle to improve sufficiently if they were only playing teams around their own level.

"The top teams will go away from the rest and stop the game's development," the Dutch coach warned.

But for Ireland, this competition has been a sanctuary. Pauw prepared them for the