On Wednesday night, Scotland hosts Ukraine at Hampden Park in the semi-finals of the Qatar World Cup qualifiers with the winner going on to face Wales in the final.
Meanwhile, Wales travels to Poland in the UEFA Nations League with both teams needing a good start in Group A4, with both Belgium and the Netherlands facing each other on Friday night.
Scotland come into this tie against Ukraine having won all of their last six World Cup qualifying matches since their 2-0 defeat to Denmark in September of last year, beating the likes of Moldova, Austria and the Faroes Islands by 1-0 scorelines, as well as Israel 3-2 and both Moldova and Denmark 2-0 in the return fixtures.
Since their 4-0 Euro 2020 defeat to England, four of Ukraine’s last five World Cup qualifiers have seen the Both Teams to Score market, with the only anomaly being their 2-0 win over Bosnia in November.
Prior to their latest win, Ukraine had drawn 1-1 in Group D with the likes of France and Bosnia after a 2-2 draw with Kazakhstan. Oleksandr Petrakov’s side’s other match in this sequence saw them defeat Finland 2-1 in late October, as Andriy Yarmolenko and Roma Yaremchuk scored on either side of Teemu Pukki’s 29th-minute equaliser.
Andriy Yarmolenko, who is set to become a free agent at the end of his West Ham United contract has a good goalscoring record for his national side.
The 32-year-old former Borussia Dortmund man has managed 44 goals in 106 caps for his national team, with two of these coming in his last four games against Finland and Bosnia, of which both of these strikes were the opening goals each fixture.
Notably, at Euro 2020, Yarmolenko played a vital role in Ukraine’s progression to the quarter-finals when they met England, having scored and assisted versus North Macedonia, whilst bagging a sensational goal against the Netherlands on top of creating an assist in their 2-1 victory over Sweden at Hampden Park in the Round of 16.
Poland and Wales face off at Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw with both sides ideally needing a victory in Group A4 to kick off their campaigns.
Wantaway Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski will be carrying the hopes of his nation as per heading into this match having scored a staggering 75 goals in 129 international matches.
In Poland’s last match, which was a World Cup qualifying play-off against Sweden, they managed to have nine shots on target as a whole, with Lewandowski recording four shots on target and a goal in their 3-0 win.
The 33-year-old enters this match in terrific form, having scored 50 goals on top of creating seven assists for Bayern Munich over the course of 46 matches.
Wales will be hopeful of their chances heading into this crucial clash in Poland, with Gareth Bale looking to add to his impressive goalscoring form for the national side.
The 32-year-old will be looking to put himself in the shop window ahead of his inevitable departure from Real Madrid when his contract expires this summer. Bale has scored a total of 38 goals in 102 international caps including a brace in his side’s 2-1 win over Austria in the World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final.
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