Portugal are just a win away from securing their place in the 2024/25 Nations League quarter final as they travel to Hampden Park to face pointless Scotland.
SCO vs POR Match Details
Date: Tuesday, 15 October 2024 / Thursday, 16 October 2024
Time: 21:00 (CET), 00:30 (IST)
Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow
SCO vs POR Match Preview
For back-to-back Nations League matches, Scotland ended on the losing side despite taking the lead in the game. Ryan Christie’s strike in the 33rd minute against Croatia in the last match was cancelled out by Igor Matanovic before Andrej Kramaric completed the comeback for the host in the 70th minute. In the same way, they lost their seventh-minute advantage given by Scott McTominay against Portugal in the reverse fixture with the Selecao making a second-half comeback. The Scots now welcome the group topper to their soil without any momentum having also lost their competition opener to Poland and sitting in the relegation spot. Failing to win against the 2016 Euro winners, a tough task in itself, will end their top-two dreams but a fourth straight loss will be catastrophic as the playoff spot to stay in League A could go out of hand. It will be a huge blow for Steve Clark’s side if it happens after securing promotion from League B in dominating fashion in the last edition. Even though Scotland has four wins against the Iberian outfit, their last win came in 1980 at this venue but only a miracle could save them facing an in-form team.
No surprises as Portugal made it three wins out of three in the Nations League with all-time leading goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo scoring again after Bernardo Silva struck first and a Jan Bednarek own goal sealed a 3-1 victory against Poland. Piotr Zielinski cut the deficit in between but it did not matter. Roberto Martinez's team’s perfect start now leaves them just a win away from securing a top-two berth in their group to qualify for the knockouts provided other results go their way. Travelling to Hampden Park for consecutive away games in the competition, the side will want to make their task easier this time having secured a comeback win at home in the reverse clash. Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes scored in that tie hoping to make an impact again to maintain their unbeaten streak since losing, in normal time, to Georgia in the group stages of Euro 2024 and winning the previous four encounters against Scotland. Poland needs to beat Croatia to halt Portugal’s qualification for now if they win on Tuesday but the team are destined for the top-two barring any catastrophic fall in the November games.
SCO vs POR Recent Form (all competitions)
SCO: DLLLL
POR: DDWWW
SCO vs POR Recent Form (Nations League)
SCO: WDLLL
POR: WLWWW
SCO vs POR Recent Form (Nations League 2024-25)
SCO: LLL
POR: WWW
SCO vs POR Squad
Scotland
Goalkeepers: Craig Gordon, Jon McCracken, Robby McCrorie
Defenders: Andrew Robertson, Grant Hanley, Anthony Ralston, Ryan Porteous, John Souttar, Nicky Devlin, Liam Lindsay, Jack MacKenzie
Midfielders: Ryan Christie, Scott McTominay, Kenny McLean, James Forrest, Billy Gilmour, Lewis Morgan, Ben Doak, Ryan Gauld, Andy Irving
Forwards: Lyndon Dykes, Ché Adams, Deniz Undav, Kevin Nisbet
Portugal
Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa, Ricardo Velho, Rui Silva
Defenders: Nélson Semedo, Rúben Dias, António Silva, Diogo Dalot, Renato Veiga, Nuno Mendes, João Cancelo
Midfielders: Samú Costa, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, João Neves, Otávio, Rúben Neves, Vitinha
Forwards: Francisco Trincão, João Félix, Pedro Neto, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, Rafael Leão
SCO vs POR Predicted Lineups
Scotland
Gordon; Ralston, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson; McLean, Gilmour; Doak, McTominay, Christie; Adams
Portugal
Costa; Dalot, Dias, Veiga, Mendes; Fernandes, R. Neves, Silva; Jota, Ronaldo, Leao
SCO vs POR head-to-head
Played - 16
SCO won - 4
Drawn - 3
POR won - 9
SCO vs POR Dream11 Top picks
Captain Pick: Cristiano Ronaldo
Vice-captain Picks: Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva
SCO vs POR Dream11 Team Suggestion
GK: Gordon (Cr - 7.5)
DEF: Dalot (Cr - 8), Robertson (Cr - 9), Mendes (Cr - 8.5),
MID: Silva (Cr - 8.5), McTominay (Cr - 9), Fernandes (Cr - 9), Christie (Cr - 8.5)
FW: Jota (Cr - 7), Ronaldo (Cr - 9), Leao (Cr - 8)
Vice-captain: Bruno Fernandes
Captain: Cristiano Ronaldo
Scotland vs Portugal Match Prediction
Scotland has not failed to score in the Nations League this season or at home since March while Portugal has also failed to keep a clean sheet in the competition.However, that will not change the trajectory of either team, with the Selecao emerging as winners once again.We predict a 2-1 win for Roberto Martinez's.
