“Evening Rob,”says Simon McMahon. “Nearly choked on my schnitzel when I saw that Cyprus have won 2-1 away to Kazakhstan. That’ll be the same Kazakhstan that embarrassed Scotland 3-0 earlier this year? In Vienna for a few days where the Austrian fans appear buoyant ahead of their qualifier against Israel, and I can confirm that the Welsh fans in Bratislava have been sampling the local hospitality since early this morning. Excitably drinking in expectation, I remember that. NowScotlandfans just drink to forget. Anyway, Dundee United’s Lawrence Shankland is on the bench for us tonight. Prost, and come on Scotland! ”
What I love about this new, easy-to-understand qualifying system is that Scotland could turn up tonight with a midfield of Rab C Nesbitt and the lads from Still Game, and they’d still be guaranteed a play-off place.
“Rob,I’m enjoying the first night of my holiday in Spain, ”saysWalesfan Matt Dony, getting the enjoyment out the way before the football starts. “That Welsh side looks more-than-useful on paper. Please do everything you can to influence a positive result. If there’s even a hint of a wisp of an ephemeral idea of suspicion of the ol ’commentator’s curse, I will be forced to visit pain upon you with maximum prejudice. And that’s a horrible thought, as I’m generally a very nice guy.
“Ah, this Welsh side. So much potential. What with my club loyalties lying the other end of the M 62, I’m obviously divided on Giggs (y), but I was happy to give him the benefit of the doubt as Welsh manager. Something’s just not working, though. Something is not clicking. And time is running out. I really, really, REALLY don’t want 2016 to have been a flash in the pan. I’m not the first to say it (I rarely am …) but four points from these two games is an absolute minimum requirement. ”
I know it’s not an easy fit, given Bale’s role, but surely Harry Wilson is good enough to get in that team?
Pre-match reading (and listening)
“Greetings from Trvana, Rob,”says Alun Pugh. “As a Newcastle fan I was disappointed to see a Sports Direct shop at the stadium this evening. Do any other long-suffering fans know of any other far-flung stadia where there’s a Sports Direct? ”
If there’s one at the Maracanã, football’s dead to me.
Russia vScotlandteam news
Michael Devlin and John Fleck will make their Scotland debuts inRussia. The pair have been handed starting places for the European Championship qualifier in Moscow.
Aberdeen center-back Devlin features in a back four that also has the surprise inclusion of Sheffield Wednesday right-back Liam Palmer in favor of Stephen O’Donnell.
Fleck is joined by Callum McGregor and John McGinn in midfield with Robert Snodgrass and Ryan Fraser out wide. Oliver Burke starts up front.
Russia (4-3-3)Guilherme; Fernandes, Semenov, Dzhikija, Kudryashov; Ozdoev, Barinov, Zhirkov; Ionov, Dzyuba, Golovin.
Subs: Dzanaev, Petrov, Chistyakov, Lunev , Ignatiev, Kuzyaev, Bakaev, Cheryshev, Komlichenko, Belyaev, Karavaev, Akhmetov.
Scotland (4-3-3)Marshall; Palmer, Mulgrew, Devlin, Robertson; Fleck, McGregor, McGinn; Snodgrass, Burke, Fraser.
Subs: Russell, MacGillivray, Shankland, Forrest , Christie, O’Donnell, McLaughlin, Taylor, Armstrong, Gallagher, Findlay.
Updated
Slovakia vWalesteam news
Tom Lockyer and Kieffer Moore were handed their first competitive Wales starts as manager Ryan Giggs made four changes for the Euro 2020 qualifier againstSlovakiain Trnava.
Ben Davies and Jonathan Williams were also recalled after the 2-1 win over Azerbaijan, with Chris Mepham, Neil Taylor, Harry Lawrence and Tom Lawrence dropping out.
Slovakia (4-3-3)Dubravka; Pekarik, Gyomber, Skriniar, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Hamsik; Rusnak, Bozenik, Mak.
Subs: Bero, Valjent, Gregus, Duris , Mazan, Satka, Haraslin, Duda, Greif, Safranko, Kozacik, Hrosovsky.
Wales (4-2-3-1)Hennessey; Connor Roberts, Rodon, Lockyer, Ben Davies; Allen, Ampadu; Bale, Jonathan Williams, James; Moore.
Subs: Matondo, Lawrence, Vokes, Ward, Morrell, Gunter , Tyler Roberts, Vaulks, Wilson, Adam Davies, Taylor, Ashley Williams.
Updated
Netherlands v (Northern Ireland) ************ (team news)
Kyle Lafferty will lead the line for Northern Ireland in their Euro 2020 qualifier against theNetherlandsin Rotterdam.
Lafferty, who is yet to score for Norwegian club Sarpsborg since joining in August, faces the significant task of breaking down a Dutch defense anchored by Virgil Van Dijk and Matthijs De Ligt. Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill named Shane Ferguson at left-back in the absence of the injured Jamal Lewis, while Michael Smith returned at right-back with Stuart Dallas deployed on the left wing.
Netherlands (4-3-3)Cillessen; Dumfries, de Ligt, van Dijk, Blind; Wijnaldum, de Roon, Frenkie de Jong; Bergwijn, Depay, Babel.
Subs: Berghuis, van de Beek, Bizot , Ake, Promes, Malen, Strootman, Veltman, van Aanholt, Luuk de Jong, Vermeer, de Vrij.
Northern Ireland (4-3-3)Peacock-Farrell; Smith, Cathcart, Jonny Evans, Ferguson; McNair, Davis, Saville; Corry Evans, Lafferty, Dallas.
Subs: Lavery, McGinn, Thompson, Carson, Kennedy, Whyte, Donnelly , Flanagan, Magennis, McGovern, McLaughlin, Boyce.
Updated
Preamble
Hello and welcome to coverage of Matchday 7 (sic) in the Euro 2020 Qualifiers. It’s all very straightforward: nobody has a clue how qualification works, but winning is better than losing. What we do know, thanks to the wonders of the information superhighway, is that Belgium will reach next summer’s finals if they win at home to San Marino tonight.
We’ll be keeping an eye – several, ideally – on all the games, with particular focus on the home nations.Northern Ireland(who are away to the Netherlands) and Wales (away to Slovakia) still have a decent chance of automatic qualification. Scotland don’t, for reasons that should be self-explanatory, but they are guaranteed a play-off place because of their Nations League exploits.
These are tonight’s fixtures (all 7. 45 pm BST unless stated).
Group C
- Belarus 0-0 Estonia (5pm)
- Netherlands v Northern Ireland
Group E
- Slovakia v Wales
Croatia v Hungary
Group G
- Latvia v Poland
- North Macedonia v Slovenia
- Austria v Israel
Group I
- Kazakhstan 1-2 Cyprus (final score)
- Belgium v San Marino
Russia v Scotland
Updated (at 2.) ******************************************************************************************************************* PM EDT
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