Following an encouraging start to their European Championships qualifying campaign where they took seven points from their first four games, Scotland were brought back down to earth with a friendly loss against England in Glasgow. That was their most recent fixture so you can expect the Scottish players to be raring to go as they build towards their next qualifier against Gibraltar on Saturday. Manager Gordon Strachan has done a great job in restoring the pride and passion since taking over the national team but he will know he’ll be judged on how Scotland perform in qualification and whether or not they can make it through to their first major tournament since the 1998 World Cup held in France.
Northern Ireland have had a an even better start to their qualification campaign having won three of their first four in Group F. Their only blemish to date was their most recent game when going down 2-0 away to Romania. Before that they had won in Hungary and defeated the Faroe Islands at home. Those were very important victories but their most significant result and best performance to date was the 2-0 win away to Greece. Considering they were a nation who has reached the knockout stages of the World Cup last summer, it was a tremendous effort from Michael O’Neill’s men and has given them a real chance of making it to France for Euro 2016.
Due to Glasgow hosting the 2014 Commonwealth games, this will be the first time Scotland have played at Hampden since the end of 2013. They clearly have not missed it too much having picked up maximum points against Georgia and Republic of Ireland at Ibrox and Celtic Park respectively. It will be interesting to see how Strachan approaches this game considering it is the first time he will have had the squad together in 4 months. He has indicated his desire to give a lot of his players some game time in this match so I would not be surprised if he makes a lot of changes at half time or not long after the interval.
Like Scotland, Northern Ireland also have serious business at the weekend as they return to their own qualification campaign. They have a more difficult proposition ahead of them, however, as they prepare for the visit of Finland. They are five points clear of this weekend opponents so if they are able to record another victory they will give themselves a great chance of qualifying. Before then, O’Neill will be similar to his Scotland counterpart in using this game to fine tune his selection for Sunday’s game. He is likely to be without Kyle Lafferty, Niall McGinn and Corey Evans who have knocks and will be saved for the weekend. That could leave them short of attacking options for Wednesday’s match.
This game should prove plenty competitive enough for an international friendly due to the proximity of these two nations. The two last met just under four years ago when Scotland were 3-0 victors. I don’t anticipate such a wide margin this time around, particularly due to the circumstances. The important game for both these are at the weekend which may see both managers ease off in the closing stages to reduce the risk of injury. Scotland are the most likely winner but there are too many variables for me to get involved at odds on. Instead, concentrating on the first half of the game could be the one to focus on before there are a host or substitutes. The home side possess the more quality and will be hoping to mark their return to the National Stadium in style so back them to score in the first half.
Aw always in international friendlies, stakes should be kept to a minimum.
Scotland over 0.5 1st half goals 5/6 @ Stan James
Or
Scotland to score in first half 5/6 @ Bet365
