Scotland v Faroe Islands: Scots to pile pressure on the top-two with home win

Scotland vs Faroe Islands
Wednesday, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports

Clarke's men unbeaten

Scotland return to Hampden on matchday three of the World Cup qualifying campaign when hosting the Faroe Islands. So far, Steve Clarke's men are unbeaten in the group, drawing their first two matches, and they have also never lost to Wednesday's opponents.

Nothing is definite in this tournament, but the Tartan Army will expect their side to secure three points and score a few goals in the process. With the two teams above them, Denmark and Austria, clashing on the same night, this is an excellent chance for Scotland to blow the group wide open. Wednesday will be their final competitive outing before the Euros in June.

Scots miss chance in Israel

Scotland finished level in each of their previous two World Cup qualifying matches. The home team went 1-0 up in a thrilling 2-2 finish with Austria, complete with a late overhead kick equaliser from John McGinn. It was a deserved point, and they were expected to build on that away to Israel on Sunday, but they had to settle for a point again.

Despite handing a first start to Che Adams, the dark blues continued to struggle for goals. They fell behind just before half-time to a long-range opener from Dor Peretz. Adams set-up Ryan Fraser on 55 minutes to draw level. The Scots finished the stronger side but were unable to snatch the winning goal.

Faroe Islands better than expected

Little was expected of the Faroe Islands when drawn in what is sure to be a competitive group. The nation seems happy to improve, hoping to pull off the odd upset here and there.

They won't trouble the top three or four places when we reach the end of the campaign they have started better than most expected. They drew their opening game 1-1 away to Moldova before going down 3-1 in Austria last time. The one point gained puts them a point behind Scotland and level with Israel and Moldova. The Faroes will strive to make life uncomfortable for their hosts on Wednesday and fancy themselves good enough to find the net.

Hosts must be on guard

Scotland have never lost to the Faroe Islands in nine previous meetings, winning seven and drawing two. The visitors are much better than the side that lost 3-0 when last at Hampden more than a decade ago. To avoid dropping any further points, the hosts must be on their guard and treat the Faroes with respect, or they could suffer an embarrassment.

The pre-match betting on the Betfair Exchange has Scotland trading at 1.141/7 with Faroe Islands 26.025/1 and the draw 9.08/1. Scotland -1 is 1.528/15.

Visitors capable of scoring

Scotland have conceded at least one goal in their two previous games in this qualifying campaign, and it's interesting to note the Faroe Islands scored one in their two outings.

Over 2.5 goals look likely at 1.794/5 with under 2.5 2.0421/20. Both teams to score is 3.45 while no in the same market is 1.3130/100.