Saturday World Cup Qualification Preview and Odds – Scotland vs England

June 10, 2017 17:00pm

Hampden Park

World Cup Qualification – Group F

Recent Form (All comps):

Scotland: WDLLD

England: WLDWD

Scotland can boost their chances of qualifying for next year’s World Cup Finals in Russia by defeating their old foes England at Hampden Park on Sunday. A win at home to Group F rivals Slovenia last time out moved the Scots to within two points of second-ranked Slovakia and kept their World Cup dream alive.

Chris Martin scored the vital goal in that match, although the home side did leave it late to secure all three points. The Scots still trail Slovenia by a point but remain well in contention for a play-off place. A win on Saturday could move them into second place depending on other results.

Gordon Strachan’s men have a good record on home soil, having lost just two of their last 13 matches. However, it should be noted that one of those defeats came against this weekend’s opponents.

Meanwhile, group leaders England will look to further cement their place at the top of the table by pouring more disappointment on their old rivals from north of the border. The Three Lions have cruised to four wins and a draw to head the group with a total of 13 point, four points clear of their nearest rivals. Having said that, there might be a few concerns that they have only managed to score eight goals during their qualifying campaign so far.

The last time these two met in Scotland, back in 2014, it was the visitors who came out on top by a 3-1 scoreline. On that occasion, England captain Wayne Rooney bagged two of the goals but the Manchester United man will not feature this time.

Prediction

Scotland are unlikely to take too many risks early on and will work to shut out their opponents. England themselves often take a while to get going – as demonstrated four 0-0 half time scores in their last five matches – so we could be in for an even first half.

A Half Time Score of 0-0 can be backed at 7/5, while Half Time/Full Time Draw/England can be backed at 10/3 with Betfair.