Scotland vs Poland: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips | Footy Accumulators

Scotland host Poland in their opening game of their Nations League campaign, with both sides looking to put an underwhelming Euros behind them.

Date: 05/09/24

Kick-off time: 19:45

Venue: Hampden Park

Group A in the Nations League sees Poland travel to Scotland in a crucial opening game. It provides a great opportunity for either side to pick up a win ahead of further difficult games against Portugal and Croatia. Both teams finished bottom of their group at the Euros, and come into this one in poor form.

At the tournament, Scotland scored just twice in their three games, highlighting their offensive struggles. It was a similar story for Poland, though they managed to score in each of their three fixtures, albeit not more than once. Of course, Poland have a world class striker to rely on in Robert Lewandowski, and he will be confident in continuing his very strong start to the season which has seen him score four goals in four games for Barcelona.

Che Adams will not be available to Scotland manager Steve Clarke, so he will have to turn to the likes of Lawrence Shankland and Lyndon Dykes up top. Both players are still searching for their first goals of the campaign. In additions to their issues in attack, Scotland have been vulnerable defensively. They shipped five against Germany in their Euros opener, and failed to keep a clean sheet in either of their next two. In fact, they have just kept one clean sheet in their last 12, and this came in a 2-0 win against minnows Gibraltar.

However, like themselves, their opponents also have weaknesses at the back. Only once in their last seven have Poland kept a clean sheet. The visitors will have a new first choice goalkeeper in Lukas Skorupsi, who will take over the void left by the recently retired Wojciech Szczesny. Skorupsi has made just 11 appearances for his national team over 12 years, but he did get the start in their final game at the European Championships in June.

This will be the 12th meeting between the pair. It has been quite an even affair in the past with two wins for Scotland and three for Poland with six draws. The most recent came in an international friendly in 2022, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Krzystof Piatek scored a 94th minute penalty to cancel out a Kieran Tierney opener. This was the third of three consecutive draws and a fifth in sixth games. Scotland last won in 2014, whilst Poland have not been victorious since 1980.