World Cup Qualifiers Playoffs: Scotland vs. Ukraine Preview, Odds, Prediction

Scotland and Ukraine meet in the semis of the World Cup qualifiers playoffs. These two units had to wait up until this point to square off because of the tragic situation in Ukraine, and it was questionable whether they would play in the first place. Things are very complicated for the Ukrainians, but that will only give them an additional motive to play. Meanwhile, Scotland is after an all-British playoffs finals, as Wales hosts the winners of Wednesday’s event.

Preview

Scotland (+130) is unbeaten for the last eight games, and a strong finish in the group stage of the qualifiers provided the Tartan Army a chance to reach Qatar. After six straight victories in the qualifiers, they played two friendly games against Poland at home and Austria on the road, 1-1 and 2-2.

This is a very tough unit in the back line, and the most important part of their game is defense. The primary thing for the Scots is to protect their own goal, and only then try to attack and score. Needless to say that more than 80% of their recent games ended with under 2.5 scores.

During the above-mentioned finish of the qualifiers, in six victories, Scotland didn’t keep a clean sheet in just one, against Israel at home. They would even beat Austria on the road and Denmark at home, though the Danes didn’t have any competitive motive in this event.

Ukraine (+250) is in problems. All sorts of problems. Their friendly international matches were canceled, so they had to play against club teams in order to keep their shape and to try out some players and tactical thoughts.

At first, they met Borussia Monchengladbach, beating them 1-2, then Empoli, whom they also defeated, 1-3, and in the end played 1-1 against Rijeka. All the games were, of course, on the road.

We need to remind everyone that this team didn’t lose during the group stage of the qualifiers and that some unlucky situations prevented them from ending up ahead of the World Cup champions, France, who was with them in the assembly. In the last ten games played, including these three friendlies against the clubs, we’ve seen Ukraine both scoring and conceding in each one, and a vast majority was with two or three goals, that is a moderate efficiency.

Latest News

Tierney is out for Scotland, which is a big blow for the hosts. Ryan Jack is out too.

Ukraine has no trouble with injuries, as most of their important players are available.

Head to Head Games

These two nations didn’t play a lot, and the most recent two events were in the EURO 2008 qualifiers when they split the honors evenly. Ukraine was better at home, 2-0 and Scotland in Glasgow, 3-1.

Prediction

We expect a very tough event, mostly because of Scotland’s defensive-minded approach and their injury troubles. That is why under 2.5 goals is our top pick. Also, we aren’t so sure what the situation is in Ukraine’s locker room, which is why we wouldn’t touch anything regarding the final outcome. In general, they are a better team than the Scots, but as said, in this case, we won’t predict anything regarding the final result.

Pick: Under 2.5 goals -195