Scotland vs Portugal match preview: Will Scotland pull off a shock? | OneFootball

Two sides in contrasting form meet in Group A1 of the Nations League at Hampden Park on Tuesday 15th October when Scotland host Portugal in a 7.45pm kick-off.

The Scots have lost their first three games in the group, narrowly going down to Poland at home, Portugal away and Croatia away so far.

Portugal, meanwhile, have nine points from nine on the board thanks to victories over Croatia and Poland, while in between they edged out the Scots 2-1 in last month’s meeting between the two sides in Lisbon.

Scotland’s tough year continues

Saturday’s 2-1 loss in Croatia was the latest in a series of agonising defeats for Steve Clarke’s side, who took the lead in Zagreb only for the hosts to recover.

Scotland thought they had earned a point but for VAR to rule out a late equaliser and the result means it’s three defeats from three in the competition with relegation from the top tier now looking likely.

After failing to make it out of their group at Euro 2024 this summer, Scotland were hoping to prove themselves capable of mixing it with the elite in the Nations League, but instead they have slipped to single-goal defeats in all three of their outings.

It has been a painful few months as late goals against the Poles and Portugal denied them what would have been creditable draws and Clarke’s side have been left with nothing to show from their considerable efforts in the Nations League so far.

Portugal are firmly on course to progress to next year’s knockout stage as they have a perfect three wins from three.

Roberto Martinez’s men saw off Croatia 2-1 in their opener before a late Cristiano Ronaldo goal edged them to victory over the Scots last month and they followed up with a 3-1 win at Poland over the weekend.

Scotland v Portugal team news

Scotland at least came away from their defeat in Croatia with no fresh injury problems, but boss Clarke is still without plenty of his best players for the home clash with Portugal.

John McGinn, Aaron Hickey, Lewis Ferguson and Scott McKenna are all still unavailable, while Angus Gunn, Lawrence Shankland, Greg Taylor and James Forrest remain sidelined.

Liverpool youngster Ben Doak was given his first senior start on Saturday and impressed on the right, so he is expected to keep his place in the side, while Che Adams could come in for Lyndon Dykes in attack.

Portugal boss Martinez has plenty of options for the trip to Hampden Park, but he is set to name Cristiano Ronaldo in his starting line-up again after the 39–year-old scored a record-extending 133rd goal for his country in the 3-1 win over Poland on Saturday.

Diogo Jota was on the bench at the weekend, but could be recalled to the XI, while Nelson Semedo and Joao Felix are among others hoping for starts in Glasgow.

Centre-back Goncalo Inacio remains absent through injury, while Joao Palhinha, Francisco Conceicao and Tomas Araujo were all rotated out of the squad against Poland but could feature at some point on Tuesday.

Scotland (4-2-3-1): Gordon; Ralston, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson; McLean, Gilmour; Doak, McTominay, Christie; Adams.

Portugal (4-2-3-1) Costa; Semedo, Dias, Veiga, Mendes; Silva, R. Neves; Jota, Fernandes, Joao Felix; Ronaldo.