Giovanni Trapattoni on Thursday named his starting XI, which sees a back four of John O'Shea, Darren O'Dea, Sean St Ledger and Stephen Ward line up in front of Sunderland stopper Keiren Westwood.
Wigan's McCarthy starts in a four-man midfield that also contains Aiden McGeady, Simon Cox, and Glenn Whelan while Jon Walters gets the nod ahead of Kevin Doyle to partner Robbie Keane up front.
Republic of Ireland starting XI: Keiren Westwood (Sunderland), John O'Shea (Sunderland), Darren O'Dea (Toronto), Sean St Ledger (Leicester), Stephen Ward (Wolves), Simon Cox (Nottingham Forest), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), James McCarthy (Wigan), Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Robbie Keane (Los Angeles Galaxy), Jon Walters (Stoke).
