Scotland v Cyprus
Saturday, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports
Fresh Dawn
Their European Championship qualifying campaign may already be two games old, but the Tartan Army arrive at Hampden on Saturday evening to welcome a fresh dawn. Former Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke left Rugby Park at the end of the season - having led the club to Europa League qualification thanks to a final day win over Rangers - signing a deal that saw him replace Alex McLeish as boss of the national team.
It's a chance to wipe the slate clean and recover from what was a disastrous start to Group I, with defeat to Kazakhstan followed by a narrow win over San Marino, the lowest-ranked side in world football. To give themselves any chance of qualifying for a first major tournament since France 98 the locals must hit the ground running and beat Cyprus before travelling to take on Belgium on Tuesday. Anything less than three points here would be a disaster.
Pressure on Scots to perform
The pressure is on Scotland to perform and Clarke won't have the luxury of a settling in period. He was announced as the manager towards the end of May and has since had to pick a squad and try to install his footballing philosophy on them. Clarke is a respected leader of men and inherits a Scotland team packed with quality, but he has a job on his hands if he is to turn things around quickly. There's plenty of promise in his first squad, but they must be made to believe they are good enough to pull Scottish football back from the brink.
The quickest way to build confidence, both in the dressing room and amongst supporters who fill the stands of the Glasgow venue, is to win football matches. Attractive play and memorable performances aren't high on the list of priorities at present, getting points on the board and belief in the squad are. Beating Cyprus at home would certainly rate as a fine start, but that's easier said than done with the visitors harbouring their own hopes of qualifying for Euro 2020. Saturday is an important day for Scottish football fans, but this will also be a match for the neutrals.
Cyprus hammered San Marino
Cyprus arrive in Glasgow level on points with their hosts, but they can be found one place higher in the Group I pecking order thanks to a superior goal difference. The Ran Ben Shimon managed side, currently ranked 89th in the world by FIFA, started with a 5-0 win over San Marino at home on March 21. A perfect way to get their campaign up and running but they were brought back down to earth when ending on the wrong side of a 2-0 at home by Belgium.
Given the class of their opponents who are favourites to qualify as champions of the group and well-respected in the Euro 2020 Outright Market, there's no disgrace in that result and the beaten side came out of the contest with a few positives. Hazard broke the deadlock inside 10 minutes and the Belgians doubled their advantage thanks to a Batshuayi second on 18. That result moved the victors to the top of the pool, where they are expected to stay. Cyprus didn't see much of the ball during that match, ending with just 40% of the possession, but they did threaten with seven shots at goal.
Visitors aim to keep it tight
There doesn't look to be an awful lot between these sides on paper, but Scotland enjoy home advantage and have the backing of traders who price the locals as favourites. Betfair Exchange users can support the home win at 1.528/15 and that's sure to be popular on Saturday night. If we get the kind of improvement we're expecting from the Scots under Clarke, that will rate as a bet worth having. Those with a bit more confidence can try their luck on Scotland -1 on the handicap at 6/4, a quote taken from the Sportsbook.
The match prices suggest Cyprus are only here to make up the numbers, but we know that's not the case. If they could pick a time to play Scotland at Hampden it would surely be now with so much uncertainty hanging over the home dressing room.
The visitors will come to Glasgow and look to make life difficult for the favourites. If they can keep the scores tight for the first hour of this match the home support will become restless and the groans will flood down onto the park. Scotland haven't been performing like a side who should be odds-on favourites against a decent opponent and the 7.613/2 about an away win won't go unnoticed.
Clarke to sort out the defence
The stats tell us to prepare for a free-scoring match with Scotland leaking three goals and scoring two so far, while Cyprus have netted five and conceded a couple. We're expecting Clarke to set up very differently to McLeish, however, and take our lead from the fact the new gaffer made Kilmarnock difficult to beat in the Premiership. His priority here will be tightening up a Scottish defence that was woeful in Kazakhstan on matchday one.
He'll aim to stamp out the individual errors that cost the team dear at the Astana Arena in March and build from there. With that in mind, under 2.5 goals makes at 8/13 makes more appeal that over the same line at 5/4. Those who would prefer to steer clear of picking the winner of this match can take their chances on the 4/7 (Betfair Sportsbook) for no both teams to score. Looking for something to cheer? A Scotland win to nil is 11/10.