SCOTLAND'S sensational and flawless Euro 2024 bandwagon arrives in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus on Friday night and the Tartan Army are expecting to celebrate Scotland going five alive.
Steve Clarke's side could even qualify when they play England on Tuesday in a friendly if results go their way, but they are far more likely to have to wait a while.
For all Scotland's success, after Friday, they have given themselves one hell of a test before the end of the year with friendlies against England and France to come as well as a Euro qualifier in Spain too.
But for now they will be wanting to continue their outstanding recent form that has seen four wins out of four in the qualifiers having defeated Cyprus, Spain and Georgia at Hampden as well as Erling Haaland's Norway in Oslo with those two last gasp goals.
Cyprus can be tricky opponents at home, but they have no chance of qualifying and there is real apathy surrounding the national team on the island at the moment.
Boss Temuri Ketsbai complained Cyprus fans never bothered to turn up for their last qualifier and were outnumbered by Georgia supporters and the Tartan Army will turn this into a home game for the Scots.
How the bookies view it
Every Scotland fan automatically worries when Scotland are installed firm favourites…particularly for an away game and, as good as they have been, it's hard to imagine too many punters steaming into the 3/10 with William Hill, with 1/4 the general price.
The hosts can be backed at 11/1 with Coral and the draw is 17/4 with 888Sport.
Recent head to heads
Scotland boast a perfect 100 per cent record against the Cypriots with eight wins out of eight, although there have been a few close things during that time.
Steve Clarke's side eased to a bloodless 3-0 win at Hampden back in March.
Players to watch
AIK Stockholm striker Ioannis Pittas takes the penalties for Cyprus and scored against Georgia. He is 6/1 to score anytime with William Hill.
Scott McTominay may be out in the cold at Manchester United but he boasts a great scoring record for Scotland with five goals in four games. He's always a threat at set-pieces and can be backed at 7/2 to score anytime with Paddy Power, which looks to be value.
Anything else catch the eye?
Seeing Scotland as heavy favourites as this is always a worry and doesn't usually sit well with us, but Steve Clarke's side have gone up a level and have shown they can be trusted to deliver.
That said, Cyprus are not complete no-hopers and are likely to provide stuffy opposition here. They rarely get hammered and will be well organised.
So the shout is for Scotland to win here by a one-goal margin at a tempting 11/4 with bet365.
Scotland have pinpointed set-pieces as a main weapon with Aston Villa coach Austin McPhee brought in specifically to work on that. They rattled up eight corners against both Cyprus and Georgia when they played them and should be able to reach over 6.5 at evens with bet365.
This Euro 2024 match between Cyprus and Scotland will be played on Sep 8, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Cyprus vs Scotland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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