Turkey vs Scotland

Turkey and Scotland are set to trade tackles in an exciting international friendly at the Diyarbakır Yeni Stadyumu.

Turkey’s mission to make amends for failing to advance to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2002 continues following a triumphant UEFA Nations League Group C1 campaign (W4, D1, L1). Complacency seems to have caught up with Stefan Kuntz’s men after a four-match winning Nations League start, as they’ve since gone winless in consecutive matches (D1, L1), both of which witnessed over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring. Knutz faltered on his touchline debut as the Faroe Islands toppled Turkey 2-1 after taking a two-goal cushion midway through the second half. Despite the underwhelming result in Torshavn, the ‘Crescent-Stars’ can draw confidence from their three-game home form (W2, D1) as well as the fact they’ve notched up 2+ goals in their last five outings on home soil.

In the meantime, visiting Scotland encountered the same fate as their hosts in the World Cup qualifying series, falling short of their first appearance at the final tournament since 1998. And like Turkey, they partially redeemed themselves to those back home by capturing the top place in UEFA Nations League Group B1 by pipping their World Cup playoff executioners Ukraine to the summit (W4, D1, L1). But manager Steve Clarke wouldn’t mind a bit more consistency from his side on the road after the ‘Tartan Terriers’ delivered a mixed bag of performances on their last five international travels (W2, D2, L1). Staying tight at the back has been key to Scotland’s away success of late, with four of their five victories on foreign soil in the past two years coming ‘to nil.’