Scotland meet Spain at Hampden Park in a blockbuster Group A qualifier, as both teams chase a spot at UEFA Euro 2024.
Currently locked at the summit of Group A with three points apiece and the same goal difference, victory would see Scotland or Spain go top of their group.
Team News
Lawrence Shankland has been called up for Scotland after Che Adams (pictured) withdrew from the squad, due to a calf injury suffered during their win over Cyprus on Saturday.
Anthony Ralston has also withdrawn from the squad due to injury, after he was left out of the matchday squad last weekend.
Spain have no fresh injury concerns to report with a full squad available for selection, aside from Gerard Moreno and Bryan Gil who both withdrew prior to Spain’s win over Norway on Saturday due to injury.
When is Kick-Off?
Scotland host Spain at Hampden Park, Glasgow, in a 7:45pm BST kick-off on Tuesday 28 March, live on Viaplay 1 in UK.
Stat Attack
- Scotland are winless in four previous UEFA Euro qualifiers against Spain (D1, L3).
- Spain have won each of their two previous UEFA Euro qualifiers away to Scotland (W2), winning 2-1 in November 1974 and 3-2 in October 2010.
- Both teams have scored in all four previous UEFA Euro qualifiers, with Scotland netting five goals to Spain’s nine goals.
- John McGinn has scored in four of his last six appearances for Scotland in all competitions.
- Spain are looking to keep three consecutive clean sheets in all competitions for the first time since June 2021, during which they beat Lithuania 4-0 in-between 0-0 draws against Portugal and Sweden.
Prediction
Given how difficult this group looks for Scotland, they did well to create early momentum with a dominant win over Cyprus, yet there is no denying that they lacked a sharp end product until the second half which simply has to be more consistent if they want to beat Spain.
Spain though weren’t exactly at their best in a tricky contest against Norway despite taking an early lead, yet they managed to net two late goals like Scotland but I do expect them to come to Glasgow and look to dominate given their quality and possession based style of play.
With that in mind, if Saturday’s win over Cyprus was about attack for Steve Clarke’s Tartan Army, this game will certainly be defence because I do expect them to do a lot of defending, but if they can snatch a draw then it could be a key result come the conclusion of this qualifying campaign.
Defeat though feels quite likely although I can’t see either team keeping a clean sheet but it should be a close contest nevertheless.
Prediction: Scotland 1-2 Spain
Result: Scotland 2-0 Spain
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