SCOTLAND need to wearily pick themselves up as Cristiano Ronaldo prepares for his first ever game at Hampden Park with Scotland entertaining Portugal on Tuesday.
Steve Clarke's side extended their miserable run to one win in 15 games (against Gibraltar in Portugal, ironically) on Saturday in Zagreb after yet another narrow defeat – their fourth in a row by one goal.
It wasn't all despair though….this site put up a 57/1 treble!
However, Scotland could genuinely claim to be unlucky in the Balkans and their inability to catch a break was summed up when they thought they had equalised in injury time only for Che Adams to be called offside.
They deserved a draw and although Clarke is under serious pressure, considering the number of players he had out, he probably won;t be too despondent about the performance.
Portugal remain top of the group after easing to a 3-1 win in Poland and they are clearly a class act when on form.
Of course, the nations met just a few weeks ago in Lisbon and Scotland looked like they might spring a shock after taking the lead, but that man Ronaldo came off the bench to claim a late winner and break Tartan Army hearts.
How the bookies view it: Portugal odds-on favourites
Home advantage means little for Scotland here with layers making the visitors odds-on favourites at a best-priced 13/20 with UniBet.
Scotland can be backed at 15/4 with Paddy Power and the draw is 3/1 with Betfred.
Recent head to heads: Portuguese have upper hand
The nations have met on 15 occasions and Portugal have won eight of them.
Scotland's last of their four wins came 44 years ago.
Portugal edged past Scotland 2-1 last month as stated.
Players to watch: Ronaldo ticks off Hampden
Scotland star Ryan Christie netted the opener in Zagreb and the Bournemouth midfielder is usually a goal threat. He is a big price at 8/1 to score anytime.
It's fairly remarkable Cristiano Ronaldo has never played at Scotland's national stadium given his illustrious career, but he gets his chance on Tuesday and is evens with 10Bet to repeat his goalscoring exploits of Lisbon, which could be a popular wager.
Predicted line-ups:
As has been fairly well documented, Scotland are down to the bare bones after being decimated by injury with an incredible 13 players missing – Greg Taylor, Lawrence Shankland, John McGinn, Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, Kieran Tierney, Jack Hendry, Liam Cooper, Stuart Armstrong, Angus Gunn, Scott McKenna and Ross McCrorie.
Portugal are without Sporting Lisbon pair Geovany Quenda and Pedro Goncalves.
Scotland: Gordon, Ralston, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson, Gilmour, McLean, Doak, McTominay, Christie, Adams.
Portugal: Costa, Dalot, Dias, A.Silva, Mendes, B Silva, Vitinha, Fernandes, Neto, Ronaldo, Leao
Anything else catch the eye?
Portugal are clearly a very, very good side and they should have enough about them to win against a depleted Scotland, but it might not be the mismatch many expect.
Scotland rarely give anyone an easy game at Hampden, certainly in a competitive match and they can hurt teams when going forward The call is exactly the same as Saturday night – Portugal to win and both teams to score at 11/5 with Boylesports.
There are usually goals with both teams are involved and it's worth having a go at the 14/5 on offer from Paddy Power on a Portugal win and over 3.5 goals.
This UEFA Nations League match between Scotland and Portugal will be played on Oct 15, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Scotland vs Portugal prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
