Scotland host unbeaten Portugal in a critical League A1 clash in 2024-25 UEFA Nations League.
Victory will see Scotland stay bottom but keep their hopes of avoiding automatic relegation alive, whilst Portugal will stay top regardless of the result.
Team News
James Forrest is ruled out for Scotland with a knock, which has meant that Connor Barron has been promoted from the Under-21s to the senior squad in his place.
Portugal have no fresh injury concerns to report following their win away to Poland.
When is Kick-Off?
Scotland host Portugal at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on Tuesday 15 October at 7:45pm BST, live on Viaplay YouTube channel.
Stat Attack
- Scotland lost their only previous Nations League meeting against Portugal by a 2-1 away result in September 2024.
- Portugal have won one of their last six visits to Scotland in all competitions (W1, D2, L3).
- Two of Scotland’s last three home matches against Portugal ended in goalless draws.
- Steve Clarke’s Tartan Army have lost their last two games by a 2-1 result (L2).
- Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in each of Portugal’s three group matches (W3).
Prediction
Although they have one win in their last 15 matches, Scotland have scored in 11 of those games yet their defending continuously has been their Achilles heel.
Clarke therefore needs to nail his defensive tactics because they will need to be much better than in their loss away to Croatia, otherwise another defeat is surely looming.
Portugal aren’t much better defensively but their attacking quality is their top asset with enough depth to cause issues – irrespective of any rotation or below-par individual performances.
On that note, I can see just one result coming but Scotland surely will take at least one goal.
Prediction: Scotland 1-2 Portugal
Result: Scotland 0-0 Portugal
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