Scotland v Switzerland: Shamed Scotland to fight back with two best bets

• Swiss beat Hungary, but have won only four of last 12

• Scotland must recapture qualifying form

• Xhaka will be targeted by Scottish midfield

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• Use Betfair's Safer Gambling Tools at Euro 2024

England Superboost

Don't fix what isn't broken they say, so Betfair are going again with the exact same Superboost selection in Denmark v England.

You can back Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham each to be fouled 1 or more times vs Denmark at 1/12.00, Superboosted up from 1/21.50!

The same selection won at a canter on MD1 vs Serbia, with Kane winning his first foul in the 55^th minute to add to a couple that Bellingham had already won in the first half.

Indeed, Kane (6) and Bellingham (4) were fouled 10 times combined in the opening game, and will no doubt be targeted once again.

Heading into the Serbia match, the duo had been fouled 55 times between them in their last 15 England appearances, but their average has now risen to over 4 fouls won per game across their last 16 international caps.

Back the Superboost here!

Scotland v Switzerland
Wednesday 19 June, 20:00
Live on BBC One

Scotland shaken by opening-night collapse

Although Scotland headed into Euro 2024 on poor form, with one win in nine games (and that was against Gibraltar), the scale of their failure against the hosts Germany last Friday was unexpected. Scotland were ragged in and out of possession as they were swept aside 5-1. The dismissal of Watford defender Ryan Porteous for an awful challenge on Ilkay Gundogan left them short-handed for the whole second half, and Porteous has been banned for the rest of the group stage.

Skipper Andy Robertson was disconsolate after the final whistle, admitting his team weren't aggressive enough and hadn't stuck to their game plan. Indeed, Germany were given far too much time and space - flair players Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz both scored, and midfield conductor Toni Kroos was able to complete all but one of his passes.

Scotland must somehow rediscover the form that got them to this tournament. They must be far more proactive when they don't have the ball, and when they do have possession they have to find a way to get swashbuckling midfielders like John McGinn and Scott McTominay into shooting positions. After all, McTominay scored seven times in qualifying, while McGinn has a healthy 18 goals in 67 caps.

Interestingly, manager Steve Clarke suggested he has unwittingly confused his players ahead of the Germany game, perhaps giving them too much information which they weren't able to interpret in the correct way. He could make some personnel changes too - Grant Hanley is expected to replace the suspended Porteous in the back three, while Che Adams may make way for the prolific Hearts forward Lawrence Shankland in attack.

Xhaka masterclass the key to Hungary win

Having led Bayer Leverkusen to an unbeaten domestic double, Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka went into the game against Hungary as one of Euro 2024's form players. The former Arsenal maestro delivered in a 3-1 win, setting team highs in touches, passes completed, chances created, tackles and duels won. It was one of the outstanding individual displays of the tournament so far.

That said, Switzerland came close to throwing away a strong position against the Magyars. They led 2-0 at half time, but a sleepy spell saw the Nati concede a Barnabas Varga goal, and it was only a late strike from Breel Embolo that sealed the victory. It was a lovely moment for the Monaco striker, who has missed most of the campaign with a serious knee injury.

Our friends at Opta tell us that Switzerland are one of only two European teams to have qualified for the knockout phase of the last five major international tournaments (France are the other), and the Swiss know a point here will almost certainly be enough to see them once again escape a group stage, as Scotland are well behind them on goal difference.

One interesting call made by Swiss coach Murat Yakin for the Hungary game was to keep the talismanic Xherdan Shaqiri on the sidelines. The diminutive winger went into the tournament having been involved in 46% of Switzerland's goals at major tournaments in the last ten years, but he watched on as the team sparkled without him. Bologna's Dan Ndoye had a fine game, although he is a slight injury doubt for this second match.

Swiss a little too short to take the win

I do wonder if the market has overreacted to Scotland's drubbing in Munich, as Steve Clarke's men are a hefty 4.77/2 to win this game, with Switzerland the odds-on favourites at 1.910/11. Scotland were impressive in qualifying, beating Norway in Oslo and Spain at Hampden Park, and the Swiss have only actually won four of their last 12 internationals.

It's also worth considering that if the game is level going into the closing stages, the Swiss may be happy to dig in and settle for the draw, knowing that will take them a long way towards qualification for the last 16.

It may seem unusual to be confident of a Scottish revival, but I'll lay Switzerland here at 1.910/11. I think we'll see a reaction from Clarke's side, and they'll be much more aggressive in trying to shut down Xhaka than they were against Toni Kroos.

Indeed, that targeting of Xhaka kicks off our Bet Builder selection. I'll back Xhaka to be fouled, Scott McTominay to have a shot, and for there to be Over 2.5 Cards in the game at a combined price of 23/103.30.

Xhaka was fouled against Hungary, and although opposing midfields can rarely get near him, Scotland will certainly try. McTominay netted seven goals in qualifying for Scotland, he averaged 2.08 shots per 90 for Manchester United this season, and I don't think it's asking a lot for him to have a goal attempt here. Indeed, I think his Exchange price of 5.85/1 to score is far too high.

As for the cards, there were four in each of these two sides opening group games, and in qualifying both teams averaged 1.9 bookings per match.

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