Scotland will be hoping to keep alive their hopes of automatic qualification for Euro 2016 when they welcome Germany to Hampden Park on Monday evening.

Gordon Strachan's side were dealt a huge blow after losing to Georgia this week, and they will have another tough match against the world champions, who are two points clear at the top of Group D.

Scotland

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A qualifying campaign that promised so much for Scotland could be heading towards a disappointing end, after their 1-0 defeat to Georgia on Friday evening.

Valeri Kazaishvili's strike in Tbilisi condemned the Scots to their second loss in the group and saw them drop to fourth place in the table.

They are now one point behind the Republic of Ireland and three away from second-placed Poland with just three games left to play, leaving their chances of reaching a first major tournament in 18 years hanging by a thread.

Strachan will want his team to show far more attacking threat than they did against the Georgians, as they struggled to create any clear-cut chances and did not register a single effort on target.

Despite their setback, Scotland have shown that they are capable of causing problems for the teams above them in the table and they were only narrowly beaten by Germany in their group-stage opener in Dortmund last September.

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Germany

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Having lifted the World Cup last summer, Germany were expected by many to breeze through their qualifying group, but they made a shaky start and won just one of their opening three games.

They struggled to impress in a victory over Scotland, while a defeat to Poland and a draw against the Republic of Ireland followed in their next two outings.

However, they have since won their last four qualifiers to take control of Group D and they are now firmly on course for a 12th successive appearance at the European Championship.

In their last group match on Friday evening, they took on Poland in Frankfurt and produced some of the best football that they have played since the World Cup in a 3-1 victory.

The world champions could even seal their place in France next summer with a victory in Glasgow, if the Republic of Ireland are beaten at home by Georgia.

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Team News

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Strachan could make changes to his side after the defeat in Georgia, but Steven Fletcher is expected to lead the line once again.

Leigh Griffiths may be given the chance to impress alongside him in the attack, having scored eight goals in 11 games for Celtic this season.

Meanwhile, the Germans are expected to stick with the same lineup that disposed of Poland, with Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze and Mesut Ozil starting in a forward trio.

Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Karim Bellarabi will begin further back in the midfield, and Emre Can should start once again, after enjoying a standout debut against the Poles.

Scotland possible starting lineup:
Marshall, Hutton, Martin, Mulgrew, Robertson, Morrison, Brown, Maloney, Griffiths, Anya, Fletcher

Germany possible starting lineup:
Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Hector, Can, Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Bellarabi, Ozil, Muller, Gotze

Head To Head

The two teams met in their opening Group D match, with Germany running out 2-1 winners thanks to a double from Muller.

That victory was Germany's seventh win in 16 games against the Scots, and they have won six of the previous eight clashes.

Scotland's last triumph against the Germans came in 1999, when Don Hutchison scored in a 1-0 victory in Bremen.

We say: Scotland 0-2 Germany

Scotland were poor in their last match against Georgia and they will have to considerably raise their game in order to compete against Germany. They will be buoyed by a passionate Hampden Park crowd, but the world champions should prove too good for them, which is why we are tipping Joachim Loew's side to claim all three points.

Written by
Alex Meyers

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