Euro 2024

2023-10-12 - Spain vs Scotland

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Spain v Scotland
Football: UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifier
Thursday 12th October 2023 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV

Spain

Two big wins in September have put Spain back on track for a top two finish in this Group and avoid having to come through the Play Offs to reach Euro 2024 being played next summer. They were expected to beat Cyprus and Georgia, but the manner of the victories last month will have given Spain some real confidence to take into a pivotal couple of Qualifiers to be played over the next week.

The minimum aim for Spain has to be earning at least four points from the fixtures against Scotland and Norway, which will almost certainly be good enough to Qualify for the European Championship Finals. Two wins would be definitely be good enough, but the focus for Spain is this first Qualifier at home where they have won their last 5 Qualifying matches played.

Spain won the last Nations League tournament in June and they are unbeaten in 4 games since losing 2-0 at Hampden Park back in March, while they have won 3 of those fixtures. The upset Second Round loss at the World Cup continues to cast a shadow over the national team, but 4 wins in 6 games will just have turned some of the momentum since that exit at the hands of Morocco.

Scotland

Steve Clarke has turned around the Scotland national team in his time in charge and the fans of The Tartan Army will almost certainly have begun planning their trip to Germany for next summer. Missing out on the World Cup would have hurt, but Scotland look like a team on the up and the expanded 2026 tournament could end their long wait to play on the biggest international stage.

Reaching back to back European Championship Finals would be a significant achievement for Scotland who have not played in consecutive Euro Finals since 1996. They are either one win, or one Norway failure to secure three points, away from booking a place in Euro 2024 and the hope for Scotland is that their Finals spot is secured by the end of the October international break.

Scotland have won all 5 Qualifiers played in this Group, but the strong run of form was ended by England in an international friendly last month. The side are going to be competing with some of the top European nations this month too with away games at Spain and France as Scotland look to take the next step in their development. Scotland have won 5 away Qualifiers in a row.

Head to Head

Scotland beat Spain 2-0 at home back in March.

These two nations were in the same Euro 2012 Qualifying Group and on that occasion it was Spain who won both games played, including a 3-1 win at home.

Spain have played 4 home competitive fixtures against Scotland and won 3 of those.

Prediction

Another couple of rounds of Euro 2024 Qualifiers are going to be played in October and we should really begin to see the Euro 2024 Finals begin to shape up.

We could see both Spain and Scotland secure places in Germany at the end of the next two Match Days, but the focus will be on the fixture between the current top two in the Group.

Scotland have surprised many with the way they have dominated the section with 5 straight wins that includes beating Spain and Norway, their two main rivals, and it would take a monumental collapse for the team to miss out on a top two finish.

However, Steve Clarke knows his team still have to find a bit more consistency when facing the best teams after seeing Scotland beaten by England last month. That was an international friendly, but games between the Auld Enemies are never uncompetitive and Scotland will have felt that defeat.

Hampden Park has been a big ground for Scotland and this is a significant test for them.

They have won 5 away Qualifying matches in a row, but Spain have won 5 in a row at home and looked very good last month. Wins over Georgia and Cyprus were expected, as said above, but Spain scored thirteen goals in those wins and they may have a bit too much for Scotland in front of their own fans.

The Statistics :

SPAIN LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2023-09-12	W	6-0	H v Cyprus
	2023-03-25	W	3-0	H v Norway
	2022-09-24	L	1-2	H v Switzerland
	2022-06-12	W	2-0	H v Czechia
	2022-06-02	D	1-1	H v Portugal
	2021-11-14	W	1-0	H v Sweden

SCOTLAND LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2023-09-08	W	0-3	A v Cyprus
	2023-06-17	W	1-2	A v Norway
	2022-09-27	D	0-0	A v Ukraine
	2022-06-14	W	1-4	A v Armenia
	2022-06-11	L	3-0	A v Ireland
	2021-11-12	W	0-2	A v Moldova