Ukraine will travel to Hampden Park this Wednesday to take on Scotland in their rescheduled UEFA Nations League (UNL) game.
Venue: Hampden Park (Glasgow)
Key Statistics
Scotland have lost just one of their last six games played at home (W4, D1).
They have scored six goals in three UNL games.
Ukraine have conceded only one goal in this UNL campaign.
The visitors have kept just one clean sheet in their last six games away from home.
Head to head
In three meetings between both sides, Scotland have just one win while Ukraine have two wins. The last time both sides met was in the World Cup qualifiers playoff, Ukraine won the game by 3-1.
Latest performances in all competitions
Scotland: W-L-W-L-D
Ukraine: D-W-W-L-W
Scotland
Roughly three months after being kicked out of the World Cup by Ukraine, Scotland will look to avenge themselves when they welcome Ukraine to Hampden Park this Wednesday.
The hosts were beaten 3-1 by the war-torn nation in June, ending their chances of playing in Qatar this winter. But they can get one over the visitors with a win in this game as they now look to leapfrog Ukraine into the top spot in this group.
They come into this tie sitting second in their group having won two and lost one of their opening three games. They are one point behind Ukraine and will match their return from the last UNL edition if they can Just four points from the final three games in this league although that might not be enough to achieve promotion to League A for the first time.
But given that they have an unbeaten home record (W5, D1) in the UNL, Steve Clarke’s men have a realistic possibility of clinching the top spot if they can WIN the first of two successive home UNL games.
Possible Scotland starting line-up
Craig Gordon; Jack Hendry, Grant Hanley, Liam Cooper; Neco Williams, Scott McTominay, Callum McGregor, Andy Robertson; John McGinn, Lyndon Dykes, Ryan Christie.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Ukraine
Ukraine will travel to Glasgow looking to put smiles on the faces of people back home in what has been a terrible few months for the war-torn nation.
The visitors have been in conflict with Russia for well over seven months but have refused to be buried despite the tragic conflict. While the war rages on at home, football has provided some reprieve for the Ukrainians.
First, the national team returned to the international football scene on their last visit to Hampden Park while the Ukraine Premier League also definitely began in the face of war.
Although the national team eventually lost their World Cup bid to Wales who narrowly beat them to the spot in Qatar via a 1-0 win, they come into this tie unbeaten in their last three UNL games (W2, D1).
Coach Oleksandr Petrakov will now be hoping his boys can keep the positive mood in the country going with a win against The Tartan Army on Wednesday. However, he was dealt a major blow last week as the influential Oleksandr Zinchenko withdrew from the squad because of injury. He will hope that the absence of the Arsenal left-back will not affect too heavily on his side’s chances of winning this game and staying top of the table.
Possible Ukraine starting line-up
Andriy Pyatov, Alexander Karavaev, Illya Zabarnyi, Mykola Matviyenko, Vitaliy Mykolenko; Ruslan Malinovsky, Taras Stepanenko, Mykola Shaparenko; Viktor Tsyhankov, Andriy Yarmolenko, Roman Yaremchuk.
Injured: Oleksandr Zinchenko
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Scotland 2-1 Ukraine
