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Scotland need a win to resume their progress
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Goals are worth backing at odds-against
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McTominay to excel again
Scotland v Northern Ireland
Tuesday 26 March, 19:45
Live on Viaplay Sports 1
Confidence booster required for Scotland
Scotland's 4-0 defeat in Amsterdam last Friday extended their winless run to six, and while that is a concern ahead of the Euros, there are mitigating circumstances.
Steve Clarke's men have had a tough run of fixtures, with only Georgia and Norway being what I would class as non-elite nations that they faced during that period - and they drew with both of them.
The manner of the Holland defeat will probably concern Clarke though, and he will be hoping that his players can make amends and get a nice confidence boosting win against a much lower-ranked side at Hampden Park.
Only England and the Ukraine have beaten the Tartan Army here since mid-2021, and they pulled off a famous 2-0 win against Spain in March.
The manager will likely rotate a few of his players for this friendly, with Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes possible replacements for Lawrence Shankland in attack. Grant Hanley won't be appearing though, as he has pulled out through injury.
Progress at last for Northern Ireland
There have been green shoots of improvement for Michael O'Neill's Northern Ireland in recent games, with their decent 1-1 draw in Romania last week coming on the back of their 2-0 victory over Denmark in their final, albeit meaningless, Euro 2024 qualifier.
It's hard to get away from their disappointing performance in the group overall though, with their only other two victories coming against San Marino. They lost home and away to Slovenia, Finland and Kazakhstan, and the Danes had already sealed top spot when they went to Windsor Park.
O'Neill was in charge for all of those fixtures, and his record since returning as manager at the end of 2022 is played 11, won three, drawn one and lost seven.
They do have a few young players coming through, and O'Neill be hoping that they can continue their momentum ahead of this September's Nations League.
Save Scotland for your Bet Builder
The hosts are a short price at around 1.68/13 on the Betfair Exchange and I think that is pretty fair. Of course Clarke will shake-up his XI a little bit, but he will also view this as a fixture where they can start to build momentum again prior to their opening Euro 2024 group game against the Germans.
As already mentioned, their record on home soil has been pretty strong for a number of years now, and since the turn of 2021, it's been quite rare for them to score less than twice - a level of firepower the visitors will struggle to match.
I wouldn't put them up as a single to win, but they will definitely be included in my Bet Builder on the game.
Goals in Glasgow
A single bet I am definitely interested in though is Over 2.5 Goals at 2.47/5 on the Betfair Exchange.
This selection has landed in six of Scotland's last nine at home, and the three that failed, only did so by a single goal.
The stats are nowhere near as good for the Irish, and while they do struggle to put the ball in the net, it's worth noting that they have scored at least once in five of their last eight on the road - four of which saw Over 2.5 backers collect.
Great Scott to be involved again
Scott McTominay was only outscored by Romelu Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane in Euro 2024 qualifying, and he also provided an assist against Cyprus.
I am expecting the Tartan Army to be right on the front foot for this one and banish the memories of the 4-0 loss against the Netherlands, and the Man United midfielder has a great chance of being involved in a goal.
If we combine him to score or assist, along with Scotland to win and Over 2.5 Goals, we get a Bet Builder treble of 4.57/2 - and that is with the early payout offer included if Scotland are winning at the 90 minute mark.