Both Scotland and Spain will be bidding to make it back-to-back wins at the start of their respective Euro 2024 qualification campaigns when they lock horns at Hampden Park on Tuesday night.
Scotland will be looking to claim their first win over Spain since the 1986 World Cup qualifying, when Scotland won 3-1 at home (November 1984) before a 1-0 defeat in the second leg a few months later (February 1985).
Spain are unbeaten in their last four meetings against Scotland, winning three of them, including back-to-back wins (3-1 and 3-2) en route to Euro 2012.
Scotland and Spain were both involved in 3-0 victories last time out, as Scotland began their Group A campaign with a home win over Cyprus early on Saturday, while Spain were winners over Norway in their section opener. However, both sides had to wait until the final minutes of their respective wins to wrap up their convincing results.
Steve Clarke's side made the perfect start to their Group A campaign on Saturday, beating Cyprus 3-0 in Glasgow, with Joselu netting the goals in front of the Tartan Army.
Scotland commenced their bid to reach the continental finals for just the fourth time, having previously reached Euro 1992, Euro 1996 and Euro 2020 – failing to make it out of the group stage, though.
Steve Clarke's changes against Cyprus were pretty influential so the Scotland boss might consider some rotations (not just because he is forced to do at least one) against Spain. Not only Scott McTominay, who scored twice in the final minutes of the match, but the likes of Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes and Nathan Patterson will also be pushing for starts here.
Introduced midway through the second-half, Scott McTominay took his international tally to three goals. The Manchester United midfielder will most likely start against Spain as we believe that Steve Clark will field a more conservative approach on Tuesday.
With three potential debutants, Norwich City's Angus Gunn was the chosen one to start against Cyprus so he is expected to continue in goal.
Che Adams was forced off in the second half against Cyprus and the Southampton forward will miss the clash against Spain. As a result, Heart of Midlothian forward Lawrence Shankland has been drafted in as a replacement but Lyndon Dykes is expected to start.
Having begun the Luis de la Fuente tenure and Alvaro Morata's captaincy era in an impressive manner, Spain resume their Euro 2024 qualifying bid in Group A with a trip to Glasgow to meet Scotland on Tuesday.
La Furia Roja put three past Norway without reply at La Rosaleda in Malaga on Saturday evening as Joselu enjoyed a memorable debut. The Espnanyol forward will celebrate his 33rd birthday on Monday and his international debut along with a brace against Norway was the perfect gift.
Luis Enrique resigned following the disappointing World Cup campaign. In Qatar, Spain never impressed after their 7-0 win over Costa Rica and produced some disappointing performances, which saw them eliminated in the last-16 from Morocco.
Barcelona starlet Pedri, as well as Bryan Gil and Gerard Moreno withdrew from the initial squad due to injuries. Yeremy Pino and Borja Iglesias were called as replacements instead.
Iñigo Martínez remained an unused substitute against Norway as Nacho started alongside Aymeric Laporte at centre-back. The pair should continue against Scotland on Tuesday.
Dani Olmo, who opened the scoring against Norway, made way for Yeremy Pino midway through the second half so it remains to be seen whether he'll keep his starting spot against Scotland.
Elsewhere, some of the experienced or more recognizable Spain internationals like Jordi Alba, César Azpilicueta, Pau Torres, Sergio Ramos, Sergio Busquets, Koke, Ferran Torres and Marco Asensio were not called up to the squad for various reasons.
Scotland: Angus Gunn – Kieran Tierney, Grant Hanley, Ryan Porteous – Andy Robertson, Scott McTominay, Callum McGregor, Aaron Hickey – Ryan Christie, John McGinn – Lyndon Dykes. (3-4-2-1)
Spain: Kepa Arrizabalaga – Alejandro Balde, Aymeric Laporte, Nacho, Dani Carvajal – Fabian Ruiz, Rodri, Mikel Merino – Gavi, Alvaro Morata, Dani Olmo. (4-3-3)
Scotland have won their last four home matches following a 3-1 defeat to Ukraine in the World Cup play-offs last June. They have conceded just once in victories against Armenia, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland and Cyprus, but Spain represents a completely different challenge.
La Furia Roja had actually been on a three-game winless run ahead of their weekend clash with Norway, so the victory will have undoubtedly boosted confidence in their camp.
It was Spain's first win since the 7-0 World Cup victory against Costa Rica and Luis de la Fuente's side will fancy their chances of topping a section that also includes Georgia and Cyprus. With that said, another victory against one of the main contenders on Tuesday would be another huge positive step in the right direction.
Scotland will be up for a fight and we don't expect a stroll in the park for Spain, though La Furia Roja are strong favorites to win the game.
