Scotland will look to continue their quest to qualify for next summer’s World Cup as they welcome Belarus to Hampden Park on Sunday evening.
Scotland took another positive step towards qualifying for the World Cup next summer on Thursday evening, as they defeated Greece 3-1 at Hampden, a result which looked unlikely in the opening 62 minutes.
Prior to that, Steve Clarke’s men had opened up their World Cup qualifying campaign with a goalless draw in Copenhagen against Denmark last month, before defeating Belarus 0-2 in neutral Hungary three days later.
That means the Tartan Army have taken seven points from their opening three qualifiers, but they are in second position, behind leaders Denmark on goal difference.
The Danes boosted their goal difference on Thursday night in Hungary, as they thrashed Belarus 0-6.
The White Wings are the whipping boys in Group C, as they have lost each of their opening three qualifiers, shipping 13 goals and scoring just once.
How the bookies view it: Scotland clear favourites
Unsurprisingly, Scotland come into this clash as clear favourites, with BoyleSports pricing a home success at just 1/7.
A shock Belarus victory is priced at a massive 18/1 with the same firm, whilst the draw is also unfancied at 6/1.
Head to head: Advantage Scotland
These two nations have met on five occasions, with Scotland winning three of them, including a 0-2 victory in the reverse fixture just last month.
However, Belarus were victorious on their last visit to Hampden, as they won 0-1 in a World Cup qualifier in 2005.
Players to watch: Adams to bag?
Che Adams became one of several Scottish players in recent seasons to move to Serie A, as he made the switch to Torino last summer, scoring nine goals in his debut season for the Turin club.
The ex-Southampton frontman opened his account for this season at the Olimpico against Lazio last weekend, and also scored for Scotland in the reverse fixture against Belarus last month and is 21/20 at William Hill to get on the scoresheet on Sunday.
Predicted line-ups:
Steve Clarke will be without Aaron Hickey after the Brentford full-back went off injured just before the hour mark on Thursday night against Greece, whilst Lewis Ferguson and Ryan Christie are suspended.
Belarus appear to have no new injury issues, with manager Carlos Alos expected to name a similar starting lineup to the one thrashed by Denmark on Thursday night.
Scotland: Gunn, Ralston, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson, Gilmour, McLean, McGinn, Doak, McTominay, Adams
Belarus: Lapoukhov, Pigas, Parkhomenko, Zabelin, Pechenin, Korzun, Kapilevich, Kalinin, Ebong, Barkovsky, Melnick
Anything else catch the eye?
Scotland can ill afford to drop points in what is their easiest game on paper in Group C on Sunday night, and whilst they were terrible for the opening hour or so on Thursday night, they should have no trouble defeating a struggling Belarus side.
Steve Clarke’s hosts won the reverse fixture 0-2 in Hungary last month, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a similar scoreline.
Scotland to win to Nil only pays 4/6, but combining a home win and under four goals pays 20/21 at BoyleSports, and that appeals to me here.
The Tartan Army also won both halves in that 0-2 victory against Belarus last month, and a repeat is boosted to 11/10 at BoyleSports, which also appeals.
GambleAware