War-torn Ukraine will look to make their country proud by booking their place in the Qatar World Cup when they take on Scotland on Wednesday.
Venue: Hampden Park (Glasgow)
Key Statistics
Scotland are unbeaten in their last eight games in all competitions.
The hosts have won six of their last six World Cup Qualification games.
They have kept five clean sheets in their last six WCQ games.
Ukraine are unbeaten in their last ten games in all competitions.
They have scored 2+ goals in four of their last five away games.
Head to head
In the two meetings between both sides, Scotland won one while Ukraine won one as well.
Latest performances in all competitions
Scotland: D-D-W-W-W
Ukraine: D-W-W-D-D
Scotland
Scotland will look to take the first step in their bid to qualify for their first World Cup appearance since 1998 when they welcome Ukraine to Glasgow this Wednesday.
The ‘Tartan Army’ qualified for this stage of the World Cup qualifiers by finishing second in their group just four points behind Denmark. They lost just once, winning seven times, including their last six in a row.
To book their place in the World Cup, they just have to win this game and the next against Poland who were due to play Russia but were given a pass after Russia was banned by FIFA.
Given that they have not tasted defeat in their last eight games, they will come into this tie in confident mode. Their record at Hampden Park will also be an enormous boost for them as they are unbeaten in eleven WCQ games at the venue (eight wins and three draws).
Possible Scotland starting line-up
Craig Gordon; Jack Hendry, Grant Hanley, Liam Cooper; Stephen O’Donnell, Scott McTominay, Callum McGregor, Andy Robertson; John McGinn, Lyndon Dykes, Ryan Christie.
Injured: Kieran Tierney
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Ukraine
Ukraine will feel the weight of the entire Ukrainian people on their shoulders as they travel to Hampden Park this Wednesday.
The European nation is currently in a terrible war with Russia but their national team have the opportunity to put a smile on the faces of many, back at home if they can win this game.
Given the support they have enjoyed since the war broke out, they will probably feel that they have the support of the rest of the world behind them, and so should be confident of winning this game.
They qualified for this stage of the competition by finishing second in their group, despite going unbeaten in the eight games. But their second-placed finish resulted from six draws and just two wins in that group.
But those two wins came in their final two away trips, so the visitors could be in a powerful position to reverse the 3-1 defeat they suffered in their only previous visit to Hampden back in 2007.
Although with over half of their squad playing in the Ukrainian Premier League – which hasn’t seen a fixture since mid-December – there are questions over the squad’s match fitness. But with an unbeaten record of ten games, they will be confident of getting an important win here.
Possible Ukraine starting line-up
Andriy Pyatov, Alexander Karavaev, Illya Zabarnyi, Mykola Matviyenko, Vitaliy Mykolenko; Ruslan Malinovsky, Taras Stepanenko, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Viktor Tsyhankov, Andriy Yarmolenko, Roman Yaremchuk.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Scotland 1-0 Ukraine
