Scotland face England on Tuesday evening as the Auld Enemy prepare to go head to head in a ‘friendly’. The teams will meet in the SFA’s 150th Heritage Match at Hampden Park with Steve Clarke’s side looking for a statement result against one of the favourites for the Euros next summer.
Scotland were comfortable winners over in Cyprus on Friday night whilst the next day, England drew 1-1 against Ukraine. Gareth Southgate’s team arrives after drawing the qualifier match in Poland, where they struggled to break the hosts down. However, somewhat bizarrely, city rivals Rangers offered their facilities to England ahead of the game.
Team News
Scotland Training Session – Lesser Hampden – Monday September 11th Scotland s John McGinn left, Andrew Robertson and Callum McGregor during a training session on Monday September 11, 2023. Photo Robert Perry
As far as Celtic’s involvement is concerned, skipper Callum McGregor is a certainty to start. The midfielder dictated the tempo against Rangers and Cyprus and will be relishing the opportunity to face up against players like Bellingham, especially with the Champions League kicking off again this month.
Steve Clarke will have been solely focused on Friday but given the level of performance and the players that were put out onto the pitch, you would expect the same XI to start.
Scotland Training Session – Lesser Hampden – Tuesday 5th September Scotland s Callum McGregor during a training session at Lesser Hampden, Glasgow. Picture date: Tuesday September 5, 2023. Photo Andrew Milligan
Expect Angus Gunn to start. The Norwich City goalkeeper has been a calming influence since being brought in and has made the No.1 role his own.
In terms of the back three, Clarke likes to use Ryan Porteous, Jack Hendry and Kieran Tierney. All three are available and will likely all start in Cyprus.
CalMac will start in the middle with Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour with John McGinn in the advanced role playing off of Che Adams.
Predicted XI: Gunn; Hickey, Porteous, Hendry, Tierney, Robertson; McGregor, Gilmour, McTominay; McGinn, Adams.
Full Squad: Gunn, Clark, McCrorie; Hendry, Hickey, McKenna, Paterson, Porteous, Robertson, Souttar, Tierney; Armstrong, Gilmour, Ferguson, Jack, McGinn, McGregor, McLean, McTominay; Adams, Christie, Dykes, Nisbet & Shankland.
Kick Off Time
The game kicks off at 19:45 (Celtic Park Time).
Where to Watch
For those not going to the game, the fixture will be shown on Channel 4 with coverage beginning at 7pm.
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