World Cup Qualifying: Scotland's Hunt For Vital October Points

World Cup Qualifying: Scotland's Hunt For Vital October Points

It's time for more international football. Shoe-horned into a nine-month window, which also included a major tournament, the European qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup continue this week. For Scotland this means six crucial points are up for grabs in the coming days.

With Denmark free and clear at the top of Group F the fight for the playoff spot has developed into a two-way battle between Scotland and Israel. After the September triple-header Scotland find themselves in pole position for the playoff tournament but there is still work to be done.

The task resumes on Saturday when familiar foes Israel visit Hampden before a trip to Torshavn on Tuesday to face the Faroe Islands on their artificial turf at Torsvollur Stadium.

Before looking ahead, time to get you caught up with what happened in September.

For Scotland fans it was the usual rollercoaster. A miserable Wednesday in Copenhagen developed into victory in Vienna the following Tuesday after Scotland had steadied themselves with a 1-0 win over Moldova on the Saturday.

Denmark away is a tough assignment for any European nation. Buoyed by their run to the semi-finals of Euro 2020, the Danes are high on confidence right now. Scotland fans hoped for a good performance on the night but that was not forthcoming. A weak surrender to their opponents saw Scotland concede twice in the opening 15-minutes and the game was effectively over. Failure to deal with Denmark's high intensity start combined with a lack of desire from the Scotland players to pressure their opponents in possession summed up an alarming first half for Scotland fans. Things improved slightly after the break, helped by Denmark taking their foot off the gas, and Scotland avoided a hammering. 2-0 was the final score. It could have been a far heavier defeat.

Three nights later Scotland were back at home to face group whipping boys Moldova. This time Scotland grabbed an early goal through Lyndon Dykes and the Hampden Park crowd relaxed a bit, expecting more to follow. There was plenty of enterprising play and chances created but a serious lack of composure in front of goal meant the scoreboard operator wasn't troubled for the rest of the evening. Still, the three points were secured - it was as comfortable a 1-0 win as I have ever seen.

The three games in seven days rounded off with a trip to Austria. As Scotland were beating Moldova, Austria were being demolished 5-2 in Haifa by Israel. Are the Austrians suffering some sort of post-Euro 2020 hangover? It turns out they probably are but that is to take nothing away from Scotland's performance in Vienna. The intimidated and work-shy team from the Denmark game looked transformed as every player in dark blue worked tirelessly. Lyndon Dykes was again on target for Scotland, dispatching a 30th minute penalty which was enough to secure the three points. Far from being a backs-to-the-wall effort it was Scotland who looked more like adding to their total. Austria only troubled Craig Gordon once in the second half. It wasn't as comfortable as the Moldova game but for an away fixture against a higher ranked opponent it was a fairly stress-free 1-0 win.

While Scotland were taking care of business in Vienna, Israel were having their own difficult evening in Copenhagen - being routed 5-0 by a rampant Denmark. The Danes have disappeared over the horizon in first place but the Group F table currently looks good from a Scotland perspective. 11-points from six games played have the Scots in the coveted runners-up position. Israel are a point further behind with Austria all but out of the running for the runners-up spot on 7-points. Austria have already qualified for the World Cup playoffs via their Nations League performance but a second place finish in Group F earns, on paper at least, an easier draw in those playoffs.

Nothing has been decided yet though. Each nation still has four matches to play but Saturday's contest between Scotland and Israel looks like it will be decisive for playoff qualification. Here's the latest on the squad and a preview of Scotland's October dates.

COACHING UPDATE AND THE SQUAD

Steve Clarke's squad now has a very settled look. The selection for the upcoming games is almost identical to the September playing party. Goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin has returned to backup Craig Gordon - Zander Clark makes way for him while midfielders Scott McTominay and Stuart Armstrong return to the group after being unavailable due to injury last month. Aberdeen defender Declan Gallagher is the only outfield player to drop out.

Austin MacPhee, brought in to Clarke's backroom team to replace the departing Steven Reid, will be pulling on his Scotland tracksuit for the first time. MacPhee had to sit out last month's fixtures after a positive Covid test. Steven Naismith, who stood in for MacPhee in September, remains part of the coaching group.

At time of writing there have been no calls-offs. With MacPhee's current club job being Aston Villa's set-piece coach, it will be interesting to see if his involvement for these games can have an instant impact. Can we expect a few tricks or new looks from corners and free-kicks? Something to keep an eye on.

After plenty of squad disruption last month, having no issues in that respect is one less thing for Steve Clarke to worry about. The manager and his coaching team can concentrate fully on winning two football matches.

THE FIXTURES (all kick-off times BST)

Scotland v Israel, Saturday October 9 2021, Hampden Park, Glasgow, 1700

First of all, don't get caught out by the earlier kick-off time. Hampden Park is sold out and come 5pm local time the 52,000 Scotland fans crammed in will be well refreshed and all set to roar the home team to victory. It won't be easy against a team that Scotland have had difficulties with in the recent past.

Since October 2018 Scotland and Israel have met on six occasions. Saturday will be the seventh meeting in three years. Scotland's record in those fixtures doesn't make for great reading - one win, three draws and two defeats - anyone who has been paying attention knows Saturday presents a significant challenge for Scotland.

From watching all of those recent games against Israel I have always been impressed by their attacking ability. Current coach Willibald Ruttensteiner usually employs a 5-3-2 formation but it is fairly fluid, becoming 3-5-2 when Israel are on the front foot, their wing-backs providing width and options going forward. One player who has given Scotland plenty to think about in these encounters is right wing-back Eli Dasa of Vitesse. His energy and willingness to attack has often caused Andy Robertson, commonly Scotland's best attacking outlet, to spend more time than he would like utilising his defensive abilities. Other Israel players to watch out for are creative midfielder Manor Solomon of Shakhtar Donetsk and dangerous striking duo Eran Zahavi (PSV) and Munas Dabbur (Hoffenheim).

For all of Israel's attacking threat, they are nothing to write home about as a defensive unit. It is imperative that Scotland impose their game-plan on Saturday. We know Steve Clark will go with a 3-5-2 - hopefully it will be the Scotland wing-backs having the lion's share of the ball, making their opponents work defensively.

Central defender Grant Hanley is suspended for this game so Clarke will need to reshuffle his back three. Depending on the fitness of midfielder Callum McGregor, Scott McTominay could be used in defence again. If McTominay is needed in midfield it could well be Liam Cooper who fills Hanley's boots at centre-back. Elsewhere Billy Gilmour and John McGinn are guaranteed to start in the middle of the park while Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes should get the nod to continue developing their partnership up front. Perhaps the biggest dilemma for Clarke will be who starts on the right. Experienced Stephen O'Donnell put in a terrific shift in Vienna while youngster Nathan Patterson was impressive against Moldova on his full debut. At least the manager has options in that area of the pitch.

With Scotland holding a one-point advantage over Saturday's foes, a draw wouldn't be a disaster although Israel will be favoured to win their remaining group games against the bottom three sides in the section. Scotland should be looking to take care of things in Glasgow which would just about slam the playoff door shut on Israel. In front of a passionate crowd at Hampden I'm expecting Scotland to have enough talent and nous to win a close but entertaining game of football.

Faroe Islands v Scotland, Tuesday October 12 2021, Torsvollur Stadium, Torshavn, 1945

Regardless of the result against Israel, Scotland will be expected to win when they make the 200-mile trip to the North Atlantic archipelago on Tuesday. You won't detect any complacency over the next couple of paragraphs though. As a Scotland fan this is the type of fixture that causes more concern than going up against a top ten ranked team. Anxious feelings about visiting the Faroe Islands are justified - drawn games there against the part-timers in 1999 and 2002 still cause those of us old enough to remember witnessing it happen shudders of embarrassment. While the current Scotland team should be good enough to win on Tuesday, nothing is being taken for granted.

Out of the pot five and six minnows the Faroe Islands certainly represent the toughest test. Their recent Nations League campaign proved that as they topped their League D section undefeated. This suggests that they are on currently on par with teams like Lithuania, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Luxembourg - some of whom have caused Scotland problems in the recent past.

Scotland swept the Faroes aside 4-0 in Glasgow at the beginning of this campaign but they usually show more resistance on home soil. The September fixtures are a good example of this - they were only beaten 1-0 by a very late Jonas Wind goal for Denmark before they beat Moldova 2-1 three days later. With four points on the board the Faroes will be looking to jump above Austria in the table when they host them on Saturday.

Scotland will need to be professional in Torshavn. Getting to grips with a motivated home team and an artificial pitch may prove tricky to begin with but when all is said and done the three points should be returning to Scotland on Tuesday night. I expect a struggle and perhaps Scotland will need to follow Denmark's example - score late and leave with a 1-0 win. That would do nicely.

With only November's two fixtures remaining after these games the Qatar 2022 qualifying campaign is almost over. What has gone before has Scotland in control of their playoff destiny. Not having to rely on other results is unfamiliar territory for Scotland at this stage of a qualifying section. It is a good position to be in. Maximum points from these two games would upgrade that position from good to playoff-bound.

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