IT seems like Scotland have been on the verge of reaching Euro 2020 since time began.
And the longer the wait goes on the more I fear another glorious failure.
The finals will take place in June 2021 and Steve Clarke's men will line up against England at Wembley and Croatia and the Czech Rep at Hampden if they beat Serbia tonight.
Having kept alive their hopes for the best part of two years Scotland face the best team left in the play-offs … a team packed with stars but one that's not performed well of late.
McBookie rate Scotland at 9-2 to win in 90 minutes while you can have a Tartan Top-Up to qualify at 5-1 (max £10).
Serbia are slightly over-rated at 4-6 while the draw pays 14-5 with bet365.
Scotland beat Israel on penalties to get here and are 14-1 with Sky Bet to win another shootout. I'm not sure my nerves could stand that.
Serbia are expected to win this and they've also dismissed but Clarke has made us tough to beat and this could go to the wire.
Scotland are unbeaten in eight and have kept three clean sheets in a row while the Serbs' only win in six was a play-off success away to Norway.
Celtic star Moi Elyounoussi was part of the losing team in Oslo but says his side played poorly and he's passed on tips to his Parkhead colleagues on ways they can hurt the Serbs.
It will be tight and tense but the man who could make the difference is Lazio star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic who netted both goals in Oslo.
Milinkovic-Savic is 7-1 at McBookie to score first and 14-5 to notch at any time. Ajax deadball expert Dusan Tadic is 11-5 to score and don't forget about Fulham's Aleksandr Mitrovic who is favourite.
Scotland's goal threat could come from midfield with Ryan Christie my pick at 4-1 ahead of John McGinn at 5-1. Christie is our penalty taker and a prolific scorer for Celtic while McGinn displayed his shooting power against Arsenal last weekend although his rocket shot was controversially disallowed.
Lyndon Dykes is likely to start up front on his own and will have a tough shift. He is 10-3 to net and could make way later in the game for Sheffield United's Oli McBurnie or Dundee United's Lawrence Shankland. McBurnie has hit the bar in his last two games for Scotland and could be due his first international goal. He is 7-2 to score.
Two bets to consider are under 1.5 match goals at 9-5 and either team to win by one at 11-8.
The draw at 11-4 is possible on such a tense night and a scoreless draw is 15-2 with McBookie.
Super Singles
- Milinkovic-Savic to score
- (14-5, McBookie)
- Either team to win by one
- (11-8, McBookie)
Resident football tipster at Scotland's most read newspaper, the Daily Record, for over 20 years and proud host of one the best betting communities on the web with daily betting tips.
Is Griffiths out of the game??
He’s in the squad. No chance of starting but Clarke knows he can score off the bench if we need one.
Aye, defo no fit enough to start as he’s nearly in me wi that beer belly but can’t see how he can stick Shankland on before Griffiths. Can see us getting pumped 3-1 but also cards galore over all 4 games wi so much being at stake, for countries who’ve never been to Euros or WC so we should count ourselves lucky 😂
If we’re losing by one with 15 or 20 to go I’m sure he’ll throw on Griffiths and maybe McBurnie too. Likely to start with Dykes.
Mcburnie is honking looking at stats, think dykes deserves his stay but Griff will be number 1 striker once he’s fit, dykes has done awfy good when I expected him to be pish tbh but even half fit Griffiths should get half an hr. I expect us to be 2 down at HT the 3 or 4 1 to them FT. Thinking about lumping on at 4/6 but if we go out in ET or pens I’ll be double gutted