Scotland v Albania Predictions & Betting Odds – 10th September 2018

Scots to edge tough test for much needed win

European Football

Scotland v Albania Betting Tips – UEFA Nations League, 10th September 7.45pm

Given that Scotland are the lowest ranked of the home nations in the Nations League, they have to take this thing seriously. There is a chance of progress for them up the ladder with a good campaign and they need to be playing higher level football. This is a big chance at a confidence-boosting win on home soil down in League C Group 1. Read our predictions for Scotland v Albania.

Scotland News and Form

There is mounting pressure on Scotland boss Alex McLeish and there will be even more heading his way of the Scots were to lose this opening Nations League fixture. Scotland suffered a big 4-0 defeat on home soil on Friday night against Belgium just to add to their woes. It means that McLeish has lost four of his five games since taking over of the national team again.

They were just outclassed by the Red Devils, which is no shame, but Scotland have scored just the one goal in their last six games. For our Scotland v Albania predictions we have to have a look under 1.5 goals which is at 2/1 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from September 7th, 2018 at 5:39 p.m.).

So the big question really is will Scotland be able to raise their game against weaker opposition? A Scotland 1-0 correct score option is at 9/2 odds* (Betting Odds were taken from September 7th, 2018 at 5:39 p.m.) and just given the state of where they are at right now, it is hard to see them putting a bigger win on the board.

They were pretty dreadful at the back against Belgium. That result will not have helped with their confidence at all and was the last thing they needed ahead of getting back to competitive action. They need to turn things around rapidly.

Albania News and Form

What kind of opposition are Scotland likely to be facing on the weekend? Well, obviously it won’t be as strong as Belgium who finished third at the 2018 World Cup. Albania finished third behind Spain and Italy in their 2018 World cup qualification group but did not get embarrassed against either of them. Albania however, didn’t score a single goal in their four matches against those two sides. But in Scotland, they aren’t taking on a side who are as good as either of those. So they may fancy their chances of avoiding defeat.

In terms of a win that is unlikely as Albania are not in great form with a W3 L5 record in their last eight matches played. One of the wins in that run of games was a 3-2 success out in Turkey last November. They suffered a 1-0 loss at home against Israel on Friday in their opening Nations League match and for the large part, much like Scotland, Albania are not a side who are going to rattle off many goals. They have failed to score in half of their last six games.

Scotland v Albania Head to Head

Scotland and Albania have never met before.

Scotland v Albania Betting Odds*

Scotland 4/5
Draw 11/5
Albania 16/5
* (Betting Odds were taken from Paddy Power on September 7th, 2018 at 5:39 p.m.)
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Scotland v Albania Predictions

Scotland to win: The Scots haven’t gotten going under Alex McLeish and this is such a big game for them. Albania aren’t actually that bad of a side and will make life tough for the Scots. We have to back the home side to raise themselves enough to sneak a narrow win though.