Spain and England both run tight ships at the back
Both teams involved in Friday's game qualified out of their groups at a canter, and will be looking for a good test as their players get some time together in the international setup.
With Harry Kane starting up front and Barkley slated to slot in behind in an advanced role, the suggestion is that Hodgson might be testing how a new-look attacking lineup fares against a tight defence, but don't expect too many goals.
Image: Nick Potts / PA Archive/PA Images
Not only does that experimental lineup probably need a bit of time to gel properly, but both sides only conceded three goals in their qualification campaigns.
England were the more prolific up front, scoring 31 to Spain's mere 23, but given that it's a friendly, there's a good chance that you can throw the form book out the window on this one.
An away draw on the cards?
Ireland have only ever faced Bosnia & Herzegovina once in a senior international match - and that was in a 2012 friendly. Given that lack of statistical detail to go on, the best guidebook to use is the form of the two teams.
Bosnia have turned things around since they dispenses with the services of manager Safet Susic. Mehmed Baždarević is the man in charge now, and he has guided them to a run of five wins out of their last six qualifiers.
While there's no doubt that there are goals in the danger men of Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic, Bosnia are no strangers to a calamitous and unpredictable defeat, including a loss to Cyprus (something Ireland are all too familiar with) and a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Israel already under their belts in this qualification campaign.
However, Ireland have been specialists of the draw during their attempts to make it to the last three major tournaments (World Cup 2010, Euro 2012, World Cup 2014), racking up 11 stalemates, as well as a further three so far in their attempts to reach the Euros.
Furthermore, O'Neill's side has only failed to score away from home once in this qualifying campaign, in the loss to Scotland.
Bendtner's surprising form with the national team
It's a essentially a local derby as Sweden face Denmark, with plenty on the line as both sides look to make it to the final tournament in France next year.
Newly crowned Swedish Footballer of the Year Zlatan Ibrahimovic will hope to fire his team to what is likely to be the final tournament of his international career, and given the Swedes scored 15 in qualifying to Denmark's eight, there's a good chance their ticket to France lies in their potency up front. However they've never scored against Denmark in a qualifier or playoff...but they've only played them twice.
Image: Mike Egerton / PA Archive/PA Images
Ask any Arsenal fan their opinion on Nicklas Bendtner and after they let out a sigh (or a few curse words) they may well say that he never fulfilled his potential in the red shirt of Arsenal.
When wearing a different red, that of his national side, he has been fairly decent however, and has been involved in six of the last seven Danish goals, either scoring or providing the assist.
The key to unlocking this match may well be one of the two big men up front.
Ukraine face their bogey team
Some teams just have a hoodoo over others, and it can be a hard one to break if it starts to sneak into the psyche of the team, as any Liverpool fan will tell you after yet another loss to Crystal Palace last weekend.
For Ukraine, that bogey team is strangely Slovenia, who they've never beaten in the four games where they've met each other, and they won't be buoyed by the news that striker Olexandr Gladkiy has been ruled out either.
Although they haven't met in competitive football for a while, Ukraine's exciting young side will hope to get revenge against the team who defeated them in the playoffs for Euro 2000.
Slovenia, on the other hand, have a sensational record in the playoffs, all started off by that momentous win for the national team. They also beat Romania to make it to the World Cup in 2002 and defeated Russia, then managed by Guss Hiddink, to make it to South Africa in 2010.
Their fans will be hoping for another historic moment like Milenko Acimovic's amazing goal in 1999 to celebrate after this weekend's fixtures.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
