UEFA Nations League

[monks data]

Nations League | League B

Oct 11, 2020 at 7.45pm UK

Hampden Park

Scotland
1 - 0
Slovakia

Dykes (54')
Dykes (38'), Fleck (50'), Robertson (74'), McBurnie (83')

FT(HT: 0-0)

Hamsik (21'), Haraslin (51'), Kucka (83')

Preview: Scotland vs. Slovakia - prediction, team news, lineups

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter

Published: October 9 2020 | 13:09

Last updated: June 5 2024 | 13:46

Sports Mole previews Sunday's UEFA Nations League clash between Scotland and Slovakia, including team news and predicted lineups.

Scotland and Slovakia will put their Euro 2020 qualifying hopes to one side on Sunday when they face off in a UEFA Nations League clash at Hampden Park.

Both sides progressed from their playoff semi-finals on Thursday to stay on course for next summer's European Championship finals.

All focus now switches to this Group B2 clash in Glasgow as Scotland look to tighten their grip on top spot against bottom side Slovakia.

Match preview

Scotland are now just one game away from qualifying for a major tournament for the first time since 1998 thanks to their penalty-shootout win over Israel.

Kenny McLean scored the decisive spot-kick to set up a one-off tie with Serbia - 2-1 winners over Norway in their semi-final - in Belgrade next month.

Steve Clarke will inevitably have one eye on that biggest game in a generation for Scotland, and he will want to carry some momentum into the contest.

Scotland have now gone six games without defeat, winning five of those, including a 2-1 victory over Czech Republic in their most recent Nations League match.

The Czechs had to field an entirely new squad after a coronavirus outbreak in their campaign, but Clarke's men made hard work of getting the job done in Olomouc.

Get the job done they did, though, to make it four points from their first two Group B2 matches, having also played out a 1-1 draw with Israel a few days beforehand.

Scotland's Andy Robertson and teammates celebrate overcoming Israel in their Euro 2020 qualification playoff on October 8, 2020 © Reuters

Slovakia are bottom of the four-team group following a 3-1 loss to a full-strength Czech Republic and a 1-1 draw in Israel.

Pavel Hapal's men face relegation to League C as things stand, but they do at least remain on course for a place at Euro 2016 after beating Republic of Ireland in their playoff semi.

The hosts survived a few scares in the 120-minute contest before winning the penalty shootout, with Northern Ireland now standing between them and a place in the tournament finals.

Slovakia are without a win in normal time in six of their last seven matches, whereas Scotland are now unbeaten in four at home, winning three of those.

These nations have only met on two previous occasions, with those meetings coming in World Cup 2018 qualifying.

Scotland lost the away match 3-0 but were 1-0 winners at Hampden Park 12 months later through Martin Skrtel's own goal in the final minute of the game.

Scotland Nations League form: DW
Scotland form (all competitions): WWWDWW

Slovakia Nations League form: LD
Slovakia form (all competitions): DLWLDW

Team News

Stuart Armstrong pictured for Scotland on September 4, 2020 © Reuters

Scotland were hit with a major blow ahead of the Israel match as Stuart Armstrong tested positive for coronavirus.

Not only did the Southampton midfielder have to self-isolate, so did Kieran Tierney and Ryan Christie after coming into close contact with him.

All three remain absent for the Nations League double-header with Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Clarke stuck with his three-man backline against Israel and that is likely to remain the case on Sunday, though changes can be expected in terms of personnel.

Slovakia have also been hard hit by coronavirus cases, with Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar having to pull out of the squad.

Like opposite number Clarke, Hapal is expected to bring in some fresh legs for this match at Hampden Park.

Robert Mak and Lukas Haraslin are among those in contention to return to the XI after finding themselves on the bench in midweek.

Scotland possible starting lineup:
Marshall; Porteous, Cooper, Gallagher; Patterson, McGregor, McTominay, Fraser; McGinn, Dykes, Shankland

Slovakia possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Pekarik, Vavro, Valjent, Mazan; Kucka, Hrosovsky, Hamsik; Mak, Duda, Haraslin

SM words green background

We say: Scotland 1-1 Slovakia

Scotland and Slovakia went the distance in their respective penalty-shootout victories over Israel and Republic of Ireland on Thursday.

The visitors have started their UEFA Nations League campaign slowly but we can see them picking up a point in Glasgow this weekend.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Scotland win with a probability of 59.24%. A draw had a probability of 21.8% and a win for Slovakia had a probability of 18.96%.

The most likely scoreline for a Scotland win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.01%) and 2-1 (9.95%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.3%), while for a Slovakia win it was 0-1 (5.34%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Scotland in this match.