Scotland will be looking to secure a morale-boosting victory when they face North Macedonia at Hampden in the Nations League on Friday night.
It has been a mixed start to life in the dugout for new Scotland boss Sebastien Pocognoli, who has overseen one draw, two defeats and just one victory so far.
The Scots' most recent outing was a damaging 2-1 home defeat to Slovenia, leaving the hosts with a huge uphill task if they are to finish in the top two in Group E.
One crumb of comfort is that Scotland beat North Macedonia 2-0 last month, so they will be quietly confident of completing the double on home soil.
North Macedonia are anchored to the bottom of the section after losing each of their opening four matches.
The Red Lynxes have struggled at both ends, conceding two or more goals in all four defeats while failing to score in any of their games.
How the bookies view it: Scotland heavy favourites
The bookies fully expect Scotland to secure a second win of the campaign against North Macedonia, with a home victory priced as short as 2/11 on bet365.
As for North Macedonia, they are massive 12/1 underdogs, while the draw is also considered unlikely at 6/1.
Head to head: History favours the hosts
Scotland have come out on top in three of their five meetings with North Macedonia, with the other two ending in a draw and a defeat. The Scots won the most recent meeting 2-0 in Skopje last month, and a repeat of that scoreline on Friday night can be backed at 9/2 with bet365.
Players to watch: Bowie to bag?
Kieran Bowie impressed in the reverse fixture when scoring his first goal for Scotland, and looks decent value to find the net again at 10/11 with bet365.
Matej Gashtarov has attempted a shot in each of North Macedonia’s last two Nations League matches, making him an appealing option to pull the trigger again at evens with bet365.
Predicted line-ups
Scott McTominay, Che Adams and Kieran Tierney are back in the Scotland squad, while David Bates and Ryan Porteous have been called up to replace the injured Lewis Binks and Stephen Welsh.
As for North Macedonia, Darko Churlinov has been recalled, but Rangers striker Bojan Miovski misses out after struggling for game time at club level.
Scotland: Gunn; Graham, Hendry, Tierney; Gannon-Doak, Gilmour, McTominay, Robertson; McGinn, Christie; Bowie
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski; Mladenovski, Musliu, Meljichi; Ilievski, Gashtarov, Atanasov, Alioski; Bardhi, Elmas; Rastoder
Anything else catch the eye?
It goes without saying that Scotland are far too short to side with at the above-mentioned odds, so I’ll instead dip into the Bet Builder market.
The Scots do not tend to blow teams away, so backing them to win alongside under 3.5 goals looks fair enough at 10/11 with bet365.
This selection would have paid out in the reverse fixture and in each of North Macedonia’s three other Nations League defeats so far.
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