Scotland travel to Lithuania this week in desperate need of three points, with Gordan Strachan’s team currently sitting six points behind Group F leaders England. Friday evening’s opponents have just one win in qualifying to their name, with the duo having both struggled at this level over recent months.
World Cup 2018 Qualifying – LFF stadionas, Vilnius – Friday 1st September – 19:45 UK Time
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Draw Best Odd of: 13/5 at Ladbrokes |
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Lithuania
ScotlandMatch Preview: Lithuania vs Scotland
Despite both teams being rank outsiders when it comes to qualifying for next year’s World Cup in Russia, this is still a game that is set to gain a large amount of attention. Scotland boss Strachan has stated that his players have “added confidence” in the build-up to the clash, with his team facing the additional prospect of having to play on an artificial surface in Lithuania. A win for the Scots could well breathe new fire into their qualifying campaign.
Lithuania Team News & Form
Lithuania boss Edgaras Jankauskas has managed to lead his team to just one win in qualifying so far, with their players struggling to compete with the likes of England, Slovakia and Slovenia at the top of Group F. Hibernian striker Deivydas Matulevičius could well come up against some familiar faces on Friday evening, with the 28-year-old undoubtedly being one of the star names for the home side.
Meanwhile, 1. FC Kaiserslautern front man Lukas Spalvis could also line up in an attacking position, with the forward having scored two goals at international level to date.
Scotland Team News & Form
Gordan Strachan has named a familiar looking squad for Scotland’s upcoming matches against Lithuania and Malta, with the likes of Darren Fletcher, Scott Brown and James Morrison set to add to their substantial number of caps already achieved.
However, with the talents of youngsters such as Andrew Robertson, Kieran Tierney and Ryan Fraser, Scotland have a different feel to their team when compared to those of recent years. Scotland earned a point against England at Hampden Park last time around, having defeated Malta and Slovenia during qualifying so far. Scotland have scored nine goals and conceded ten to date, with the pressure on Lee Griffiths to continue his fine run of form in front of goal.
Head to Head
Lithuania and Scotland have met nine times in the past, with the Scots currently having the better record, with five wins to their name, compared to just one victory for Lithuania. Lithuania earned a valuable point at Hampden Park back in October, with their previous meeting dating back to 2011, when Scotland narrowly won by one goal to nil. Lithuania’s only victory against Scotland came back in 2003.
Betting Odds and Predictions
Given the attention on this match, a whole host of bets are expected to be placed online. The first market to look at is Scotland to claim a victory in Lithuania, which can be found at best odds of 4/5 at William Hill.
Elsewhere, for those backing a victory for the home side, the same bookmakers offer odds of 7/2, which will potentially be appealing to many punters. Finally, with neither side finding goals easy to come by during qualifying, betting on there being under 2.5 goals during the game is recommended, with odds of 8/15 found at Ladbrokes.
Top Betting Tip
Our top betting tip for the match is to bet on both teams to score, which can be found at best odds of 6/5 at William Hill.