Scotland v Republic of Ireland: Clarke eyes Nations League revenge
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Preview, odds and Scotland v Republic of Ireland betting tips
Scotland moved to the top of their Nations League group with an impressive 3-0 victory against Ukraine on Wednesday and next host Republic of Ireland on Saturday hoping to boost their promotion hopes.
Steve Clarke’s side are two points clear of Ukraine and evens favourites to defeat the Irish, who had crushed the Scots in June.
It should be an electric atmosphere at Hampden Park, especially if Ukraine fail to beat Armenia a few hours earlier, so let’s look at some of the main talking points to help with our Scotland v Republic of Ireland betting tips.
Scotland v Republic of Ireland form
The Scots bounced back from their World Cup play-off heartache against Ukraine by winning three of their four Nations League games and are now in pole position to be playing in League A for the first time.
Victories against Armenia by a 6-1 aggregate either side of a 3-0 defeat by Republic of Ireland meant they went into Wednesday’s game in second place.
After a goalless first half, John McGinn put Scotland ahead with a 70th-minute drive and Lyndon Dykes headed in twice from fellow substitute Ryan Fraser’s corners to seal three crucial points
Clarke said: “It was nice for the two substitutes Ryan and Lyndon to come off the bench and make the scoreline better. It is credit to the players. I would say both of them probably had the hump with the head coach that they didn’t start the game but that’s what you want, you want a hungry group.”
Scotland’s victory means the Irish still have an outside chance of finishing top of the group, but lose and they are in danger of being relegated.
Stephen Kenny’s side are 3/1 to repeat their victory from three months ago and a draw is available at 21/10.
Kenny, though, has urged his players to forget about their 3-0 win against Scotland and concentrate on getting three points.
He said: “It was a very, very good performance, but we have to move on from it. That was then, now we’ve got to go to Hampden very determined because Scotland’s home record is excellent. We’re going to have to put in a really brilliant performance to get a result there and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The win over Scotland was just Kenny’s third competitive victory in 18 attempts and was followed by a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Ukraine in the Polish city of Lodz.
The result and performance in both games signalled an upturn in fortunes for Ireland after they had opened their League B1 campaign by losing in Armenia and at home to the Ukrainians.
Scotland have lost just one of their last seven games at Hampden Park, five of which were victories.
Four of those were by under 3.5 goals and that option is available at 7/5, while we go 19/10 on a win to nil which has been the case in four of their previous seven.
Scotland v Republic of Ireland head to head
Clarke is confident Scotland can put in a better performance than they did in Dublin where Alan Browne and Troy Parrott helped Ireland take control in the first half before Michael Obafemi put the result beyond doubt six minutes after the restart.
“Obviously we went out there in the summer and didn’t do ourselves justice and we want to do ourselves justice on Saturday,” Clarke said.
Scotland have won just one of their last five encounters with the Irish, a 1-0 victory in Euro 2016 qualifying having drawn 1-1 in Dublin.
Has Matt Doherty lost weight or is it something else!? 😅😂 pic.twitter.com/ByccQjJ6xd
— FAIreland ⚽️🇮🇪 (@FAIreland) September 22, 2022
Ireland won three of those games, all without conceding which can be backed at 24/5.
Six of the last eight meetings between these nations have involved at least one team failing to score which is 4/6, while goals at both ends is 11/10.
In what could be a close match, we like the 11/10 on under 1.5 goals in the first half, three or fewer in the second and either team to win in our Scotland v Republic of Ireland betting tips.
Scotland v Republic of Ireland team news
Everton defender Nathan Patterson was stretchered off in the first half with a knee injury, with Clarke admitting “it doesn’t look like a good one”.
Should the former Rangers right-back fail to recover then Brentford’s Aaron Hickey is likely to start.
A goal from Super John McGinn and a brace from substitute Lyndon Dykes saw Scotland beat Ukraine and take all three points to go top of Group B1.
These are your highlights from Scotland 3-0 Ukraine.#SCOUKR pic.twitter.com/UL71r50XF5
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) September 22, 2022
Dykes and Fraser have done their chances of starting no harm at all with their second-half displays against Ukraine.
Striker Jacob Brown, defender Grant Hanley and goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin had all withdrawn over the weekend, with Rangers shot-stopper Robby McCrorie the only player called up so far to fill the gaps.
For Ireland, Norwich defender Andrew Omobamidele withdrew from the squad with a groin injury and was replaced by Aberdeen’s Liam Scales.
Goalscorer odds
Che Adams, who hit the bar and spurned another great chance against Ukraine, is the 4/1 favourite to open the scoring or 2/1 to find the net at any time, but Dykes may be worth considering at 9/2 and 21/10 in the two markets, while he is 14/1 to bag at least a double.
Good morning 😄#SCOUKR pic.twitter.com/rVav37wtrY
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) September 22, 2022
However, McGinn catches the eye at 6/1 to break the deadlock just like on Wednesday or 13/5 to score as he did against Armenia in Scotland’s previous match.
Stuart Armstrong, who struck twice in that game and went close on Wednesday, is 7/1 and 16/5 in the two options or 33/1 to score at least twice in our Scotland v Republic of Ireland betting tips.
Ireland look short in attack, with Scott Hogan the 7/1 favourite to draw first blood or 3/1 to score, while Callum Robinson and Troy Parrott are 15/2 and 10/3.
Wolves defender Nathan Collins, sent off for a horrible high kick on Manchester City’s Jack Grealish at the weekend, opened the scoring in the 1-1 draw with Ukraine and is 25/1 to repeat the trick or 10/1 to score.
Match Info
Where: Hampden Park, Glasgow
When: 19:45, Saturday 24th September
How to watch: Premier Sports 1
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
