Kick-off: 1945, 24/09/2022
Stadium: Hampden Park
TV: Premier Sports
Scotland are holding all the aces in Nations League Group B1 after beating Ukraine on Wednesday and can get the better of Ireland in Glasgow.
That was some compensation for a World Cup play-offs defeat and now Steve Clarke’s side will seek revenge for a June thumping in Dublin.
We feel 11/10 for a home victory is a fair price for our first Scotland vs Ireland prediction.
Scotland Odds
Scotland eased past Armenia either side of that loss to Ireland and now head the table following an impressive midweek success.
After a goalless first half, Che Adams and Stuart Armstrong missed good opportunities to put the Scots ahead and some frustration could be felt in the stands.
However, in the 70th minute, skipper John McGinn fired in a drive before substitute Lyndon Dykes headed in twice from fellow replacement Ryan Fraser’s corners.
“It was a good performance and we are really pleased with it,” beamed Clarke. “Congratulations to the players.
“We give them a lot of information in a short pace of time, most of it boring.
“Walk-throughs on the pitch, meetings in the meeting room, but we took it on board, executed what we wanted to do well.
“Now we rest and recover and get ready for a tough game against Republic of Ireland on Saturday.
“Obviously, we went out there in the summer and didn’t do ourselves justice – and we want to do ourselves justice on Saturday.”
Games between these teams are traditionally tight tussles, with only two of the last 10 settled by more than one goal.
Looking at the Scotland vs Ireland odds, we reckon 5/2 for a home win by the narrowest of margins makes sense.
Republic of Ireland Odds
Ireland were left reeling on the ropes after kicking off their campaign with 1-0 defeats by Armenia away and Ukraine at home.
However, Stephen Kenny enjoyed probably his best match as manager when Scotland were hammered 3-0 at Aviva Stadium over the summer.
That was followed by a solid 1-1 stalemate in Ukraine and plenty of fans and pundits still believe Kenny is on the right track.
Kenny is expecting to face a different Scotland outfit at Hampden Park this weekend, though.
“It was a very, very good performance, but we have to move on from it,” said the head coach.
“That was then, now we’ve got to go to Hampden very determined because Scotland’s home record is excellent.
“We’re going to have to put in a really brilliant performance to get a result there and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
However, the timing of this contest is not ideal, with key men Seamus Coleman, Matt Doherty, Shane Duffy and Michael Obafemi not currently playing at their respective clubs.
Let’s finish off our Scotland vs Ireland betting tips by taking 4/1 for Draw HT/Scotland FT.
Additional stats
Last result:
SCOTLAND 3-0 Ukraine – John McGinn, Lyndon Dykes (2)
Ukraine 1-1 IRELAND – Nathan Collins
Head-to-head: Ireland 3-0 Scotland, Ireland 1-1 Scotland, Scotland 1-0 Ireland
Join bwin today and receive up to £20 money back as a FreeBet if your first wager (3+ selections at odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater) is a loser! Terms and conditions apply.
