SCOTTISH football aficionado Gerry Taylor (@thefurlongpole) shares his verdict on Sunday's Nations League tussle between Scotland and Slovakia.
Slovakia vs Scotland | Sunday 15th November 2020, 14:00 | Sky Sports
I've never done a preview before, trying to decide which squad are the soberest. Well, after both of their Thursday night heroics in the Euro 2020 qualification play-offs, and subsequent celebrations, especially the Scotland ones, it would be realistic to say the away team are not going into this Nations League group match with the usual ideal preparations.
Yes, Steve Clarke will make plenty of changes, utilising his full squad, as they have another group match to deal with in Israel on Wednesday night. Eight changes or so to his starting line-up in Serbia, wouldn't surprise me.
Stefan Tarkovic's hosts come into this after their hard-fought 2-1 extra-time win in Belfast. It's not clear what kind of shape Marek Hamsic et co will be in, but they are likely to freshen up their side also, and it promises to be a tight tussle in Trnava.
The Scots currently are in a strong position, sitting top of League B Group 2 with 10 points – the Slovaks sit bottom with one point. Whilst wanting to avoid defeat in the next two fixtures, Andy Robertson and team will want to try and win one of them, to guarantee top spot.
Lyndon Dykes provided the winner last month, in a tight, narrow 1-0 victory in the reverse-rubber at Hampden. After all the euphoria from Thursday night and energies expended, and given many expected changes to the line-ups – a draw in the Anton Malatinsky Stadium would not surprise me in the least.
Best Bets
Slovakia vs Scotland – Draw (23/10 Bet365)
