Saturday 8th October 2016 Kickoff: 1945hrs
Scotland v Lithuania
Football – International – World Cup Qualification
The second round of World Cup qualifiers for the European nations is well underway and Scotland will be hoping to continue their positive start by negotiating a tricky home tie at home to Lithuania. Gordon Strachan’s men started their campaign with a thumping 5-1 win last month and will be looking to make it two consecutive wins in a campaign before travelling to Slovakia next Tuesday.
The win over Malta ended up being very comfortable but it was not without some moments of concern as the score was 1-1 at half time. Strachan’s men managed to retake the lead early in the second half before benefiting from some fortunate refereeing decisions, which they took full advantage of. Having disappointed in the second half of the Euro 2016 qualification campaign, the pressure was on the manager to get off to a good start this time around and he certainly managed that. The challenge now is to continue that with a win at Hampden on Saturday to ensure they go into what will be a much stiffer test against Slovakia with maximum points and the confidence to get a result.
Lithuania looked set to be on for a very impressive start to the group having went taken a two goal lead at home to Slovenia. They were unable to hold on to that advantage, though, and conceded two goals in the last 13 minutes to be left with a solitary point. Their performance in the first half would have given them belief that they can compete in what looks a difficult group, however. The Lithuanians finished qualification for the European Championships with 10 points, but six of those came courtesy of two wins over minnows San Marino which is something of an indication as to where they stand. Currently ranked 117, there is little to no chance that they will be playing in Russia in 2018, but they will want to be as competitive as possible and could frustrate some of the bigger nations in this group.
Scotland lost just one of their five home games during qualification and that came against current World Champions Germany, going down 3-2. The Scots were also successful when these two last met in 2011 for the previous European Championships thanks to a solitary goal from Steven Naismith. The visitors proved awkward opponents on that occasion and whilst they have struggled to make any sort of impact on the road in recent campaigns, the performance over a decent Slovenia outfit should serve as warning to Scotland.
Scotland v Lithuania Betting Tips
The home team are expected to win this game and take a 100% record into the clash with Slovakia, and I am inclined to side with that. That being said, they may well have to bide their time against a team who have only lost by more than one goal in just one of their last six away games (3-0 against Russia back in March). Scotland themselves won two of their five home qualifiers by a single goal last time around and it could well be a similar story at Hampden on Saturday.
Scotland to win by one goal 23/10 @ Betfair
