Scotland vs Portugal

Scotland’s final chance to avoid immediate relegation from the UEFA Nations League A brings Portugal to the iconic Hampden Park.

Scotland suffered a last-gasp heartache in Zagreb last week, with VAR overturning their stoppage-time equalizer in a 2-1 defeat against Croatia, leaving them pinned to the bottom of Group A1 without a single point from three matches. Another defeat against a Portugal side they’ve lost to in their last four H2Hs, including a 2-1 loss in September’s reverse fixture, would likely seal Scotland’s fate in the highest tier and demote them back to League B with two matches to spare. The impending return to Glasgow would ‘normally’ be a mental boost for the Tartan Army, yet they’ve only won once in six outings in the capital over the past 18 months (D2, L3). They could at least entertain neutrals after their opening three Group A1 contests featured over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring.

In the meantime, Portugal made another significant step toward reaching the Nations League playoffs for the first time since lifting the crown in the tournament’s maiden edition in 2018/19 with a 3-1 win against Portugal last week. Roberto Martinez’s high-flyers are the only team in this group to have won all three matches. In doing so, they bagged seven goals but failed to keep a clean sheet, highlighting the potential for a goal-glutted affair That has often not been the case on Portugal’s recent travels, with four of their last six producing under 2.5 goals. Regardless, the ‘Selecao’ will be confident of maintaining their perfect score in Group A1, knowing they’ve only ever lost one away match in the Nations League (W5, D3). It’s worth noting that they bagged 2+ goals in all five wins in that sequence!