Barely less than three weeks after being hired as Scotland’s new manager, Steve Clarke’s Tartan Army welcome Cyprus to Hampden Park for a critical UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesSteve Clarke has no fresh injury concerns within his squad with everyone available for selection.
Stuart Findlay, Greg Taylor and Eamonn Brophy of Kilmarnock are all in line for their first caps alongside Livingston goalkeeper, Liam Kelly and Aberdeen’s Michael Devlin.
Cyprus’ team news meanwhile is unclear.
Stat Attack
- Scotland have won all five meetings by a combined goal aggregate of 20-4.
- Whilst their first two clashes resulted in comfortable 5-0 then 8-0 wins for the Scots, Cyprus have lost the last three meetings by one goal margins with both teams scoring in those matches.
- None of Scotland’s last squad to face Cyprus in November 2011 feature in the current squad.
- Scotland boasts a squad that have just 14 international goals between them in comparison to Cyprus who have a combined 31 goals in their squad.
- Cyprus’ Giorgos Merkis will earn his 50th cap if he features here.
Prediction
Given Steve Clarke’s managerial pedigree, I am expecting a stronger performance than of recent games but a lack of experienced players is a slight concern so will be interesting to see how the youngsters get on.
Scotland however have a great record over Cyprus and being at home, I fancy them to find a crucial win.
Prediction: Scotland 2-1 Cyprus
Result: Scotland 2-1 Cyprus