On Sunday, at 17:00, Portugal plays on Scotland in a friendly match where guests start certifying favorites. Lusitans come after an exhilarating success in Poland (3-2), in which their offensive has shown inspiration, while Scotland has been racing in Israel (1-2). The match between Scotland and Portugal does not matter for the League of Nations.
The UK press criticized Scottish Scottish performance in Haifa, where Alex McLeish’s students were defeated by 1-2, though they drove! The Scots have opened the scoring away, in front of an opponent who has not beat anybody in 10 matches. The guest game was good in the first half, but Scotland collapsed in the second half when it accepted an authoritarian domination of the Israelis. The equalizer goal came logically and the hosts successfully for victory.
The ultra-defensive style and the failure of possession have attracted McLeish’s vehement criticism, even if his batch remains relatively inexperienced. In addition, the whole defense is made up of quasi-debutants who do not have the experience of international matches. In front of Sanches, B. Silva, Neves, or Carvalho, hosts will have to use physical force to block their side attacks. There is a clear class difference between the two!
Only a failure in the last 11 parties for the Lusitans.
Portugal, on the other hand, impressed pleasantly in Poland, managing atypically to score three times. The goals of the victory were signed by Andre Silva, Bernardo Silva and Glik (autogol) and Cristiano Ronaldo’s lack was not felt by Fernando Santos’s students. Even if there were inaccuracies in defense, Scotland does not have a sufficiently dangerous attack to surprise the Luistan defenders.
Portugal has only one defeat in the last 11 games (1-2 with Uruguay in the World Cup) and the result in Poland confirmed the victory with Italy (1-0), achieved after a great tactical performance. Even if it has received a goal in 6 of its last 8 games, Portugal may impose its game in Glasgow in front of a technically restricted opponent.
THE PROBABLE TEAMS
Scotland: McGregor – Hendrie, Mulgrew, Tierney – S. Armstrong, McDonald, McGinn, Forrest, Robertson – Russell, Naismith
Portgualia: Rui Patricio – Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Rui – Neves, Carvalho, Pizzi – B. Silva, A. Silva, Sanches
PREDICTION: Portugal to win @ 1.92
