Slovenia v Scotland: Pocognoli to make a solid start

Slovenia v Scotland
Saturday 26 September, 14:00
Live on BBC

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Slovenia looking for some good news

While Slovenia have some excellent individuals like Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak and Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko, they have struggled to produce positive results recently as a unit. In the World Cup qualifiers Slovenia collected just four points and didn't win a single game.

Goalscoring has been a big problem for Slovenia. They have netted multiple goals in just one of their last eight games, and that was in a friendly win over Montenegro.

Coach Bostjan Cesar was a fine player for Slovenia (he won over 100 caps as a defender), but he's promised to play an exciting attacking style. Whether the former Maribor boss has the players to do that remains to be seen, and a shin injury to Sesko has robbed him of one of his chief attacking threats.

Pocognoli entrusted with Scotland's next generation

When Steve Clarke stepped down as Scotland boss after delivering qualification for three major tournaments, it was always going to be a tough act to follow. While Scotland didn't set those tournaments alight when they got there (they failed to escape the group stage in all three) it was still a display of impressive consistency from Clarke, who coached Scotland in more games than anyone in the national team's history.

Belgian Sebastien Pocognoli may have seemed an odd choice to replace Clarke, not least because he had an underwhelming season at Monaco last term. However, the former Brighton and West Brom defender did lead Union SG to an extraordinary title win in Belgium, and he has worked in international football at youth level.

Pocognoli wants physicality and aggression, and will eventually look to play bolder attacking football than Clarke did, but finding the right balance will be crucial, not least because a big part of his remit is to usher in the next generation of Scottish talents.

Norwich City's Kenny McLean is out, as is Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney. Scott McTominay is currently out after having a small operation on his heart to cure an irregular cardiac rhythm.

Pocognoli can at least avoid defeat

It's difficult to gauge how a new coach will start off, but I'm confident that Scotland can at least avoid defeat here. Although they were dumped into League B by a comprehensive playoff defeat against Greece, Scotland actually competed really well in League A (they beat Croatia and Poland, as well as holding Portugal to a goalless draw), and they should cause problems for a depleted and out-of-form Slovenia.

I'll combine Scotland/Draw Double Chance with John McGinn to have a shot on target at 2/13.00 on the Sportsbook's Bet Builder. The Aston Villa midfielder got 11 goals for club and country last term, scored the winner against Haiti at the World Cup and has had 11 shots across his eight games this season.

Now read our other Nations League tips here!