Scotland take on Georgia in their penultimate Euro 2024 qualifier in Tbilisi on Thursday night.
Steve Clarke’s side have already qualified for Germany after winning five of their first six Group A games.
Here are some of the key talking points ahead of the game at the Boris Paichadze Stadium.
Pots not prizes
Scotland are highly unlikely to top the group given they sit on 15 points with Spain, who are seven goals better off and finish with games against Cyprus and Georgia. An unfortunate slip from Aaron Hickey late on in Seville last month led to a second Spanish goal and wiped out Scotland’s head-to-head advantage. However, good results against Georgia and Norway will boost Scotland’s hopes of landing in the second pot of seeds for next month’s Euro 2024 draw as well as regaining momentum after three consecutive defeats.
Breaking the spell
Scotland have twice come unstuck in Tbilisi before – their Euro 2008 and Euro 2016 campaigns suffered fatal blows against Georgia. Having beaten France home and away, Alex McLeish’s side lost 2-0 against a side featuring three teenagers, including 17-year-old goalkeeper Giorgi Makaridze and 17-year-old goalscorer Levan Mchedlidze. Gordon Strachan was also on the end of a defeat in Tbilisi as the hosts frustrated Scotland in a 1-0 win. Despite being unbeaten against qualification rivals Poland and Republic of Ireland, Scotland missed out on a play-off.
A chance to shine
Scotland are without about half a team of likely starters – Angus Gunn, Kieran Tierney, Grant Hanley, Hickey, Andy Robertson and Che Adams are all absent. The game could give the likes of Nathan Patterson, Greg Taylor, Anthony Ralston, the uncapped Josh Doig and late call-up Lawrence Shankland the chance to impress.
Who is in goal?
Clarke gave nothing away on who would replace Gunn, who has only conceded three goals in six qualifiers. Motherwell captain Liam Kelly and Hearts goalkeeper Zander Clark are looking for their competitive debuts after both won their first caps in last month’s 4-1 friendly defeat by France. Rangers number two Robby McCrorie replaced Gunn in the squad.
Motivated opponents
Georgia cannot finish in the top two but they can still go to Euro 2024 through the Nations League play-offs. Willy Sagnol’s side were the top ranked team in Group C after winning emphatically away to Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and will take their place in the play-off tournament in March.
Dortmund likely to miss Ryerson for Wolfsburg trip
Borussia Dortmund will likely be without full-back Julian Ryerson for their DFB-Pokal trip to Wolfsburg, but Nuri Sahin could welcome back Marcel Sabitzer and Waldemar Anton.
All three players were injured during Saturday's 2-1 loss at Augsburg in the Bundesliga, as Dortmund succumbed to a second defeat in four days after squandering a 2-0 lead to lose 5-2 at Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Speaking at Monday's pre-match press conference, coach Sahin told reporters: "I don't have high hopes for Julian Ryerson.
"With Sabi and Waldi, every hour counts. It will only become clear towards kick-off whether they can play."
Sahin is keen to see Dortmund tighten up at the back after losing three of their last five league matches, slipping seven points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
"The goals we're conceding for the effort we're putting in are extreme. That can't happen to us. We're conceding goals too easily by making mistakes," said the former midfielder.
"At the moment, we have so many issues of our own that it doesn't feel so easy."
Dortmund have lost four consecutive matches on their travels in all competitions since their last DFB-Pokal outing, a 4-1 victory at Phonix Lubeck.
They have gone unbeaten through their last three games against Wolfsburg, however, outscoring them 8-1 since suffering a 2-0 defeat at Volkswagen Arena in November 2022.
Faltering in attack, open at the back – Erik ten Hag gets the sack
Sunday's Premier League loss at West Ham proved one defeat too many for embattled Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, who was sacked on Monday.
The Red Devils are now seeking their sixth permanent boss since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ten Hag all failing to return the glory days to Old Trafford.
Ten Hag led United to the EFL Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup earlier this year, making him their second-most successful boss of the post-Ferguson era after Mourinho, who won the Europa League, EFL Cup and Community Shield.
However, a dismal eighth-placed Premier League finish in 2023-24 has been followed by a dreadful start to 2024-25, prompting the INEOS regime to take action.
Here, we delve into the Opta data to pinpoint where it went wrong for Ten Hag at United.
No defence for United rearguard
When Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford in 2022, having led an exuberant Ajax side to a Champions League semi-final and three Eredivisie crowns, hopes were high that he would bring a modern, possession-based style to a United side characterised by chaos for so long.
However, that dream failed to materialise. Throughout Ten Hag's time in the dugout, United were consistently among the Premier League's worst defensive outfits.
Since his first Premier League match in charge in August 2022, United have registered a total xG against (xGA) figure of 136.
While they only conceded 112 goals under him, their xGA was the fifth-worst of any ever-present Premier League side in that time, better than only Everton, Fulham, West Ham and Wolves.
Meanwhile, United faced 1,253 shots in the Premier League under Ten Hag – only four teams (Brentford, Wolves, Bournemouth and West Ham) have faced more shots in the competition since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
The £70million arrival of midfield enforcer Casemiro failed to solve United's defensive issues, and a failure to control games was a key theme of Ten Hag's tenure. Only Brighton (17) and Everton (16) conceded more Premier League goals from fast breaks than United (13) during the Dutchman's reign, and only three teams gave up more shots from such scenarios (61).
Attackers go missing
In the early weeks of 2024-25, however, a failure to take their chances at the other end has primarily cost United.
Only Crystal Palace and Southampton (six each) have scored fewer Premier League goals than United (eight) this season. They have the biggest negative differential between expected goals and goals scored in the competition this term (-6.56 – eight goals, 14.56 xG).
They were guilty of spurning several clear-cut chances at the London Stadium last time out, and seven of Ten Hag's 27 Premier League defeats came via a 90th-minute winner, the highest percentage of defeats to last-minute goals of any manager to lose 20 or more games in Premier League history.
With 42 goals, Marcus Rashford was United's leading scorer in all competitions under Ten Hag.
Thirty of his strikes came in Ten Hag's debut campaign, though, and he has only netted once in nine league outings this term.
Bruno Fernandes, who Ten Hag installed as captain, has created the most chances for United since the start of 2022-23 with 364. Christian Eriksen (131), Diogo Dalot (116) and Rashford (115) were the other three players to set up at least 100 chances for team-mates under the former Ajax boss.
However, Fernandes – who scored 29 goals under Ten Hag and laid on 31 assists – has struggled for form this campaign, with his 2.48 xG the highest figure of any player yet to net in the Premier League.
The highs and lows
Ten Hag's tenure brought a few obvious highs, with the 2023 EFL Cup final win over Newcastle United ending a near-six-year trophy drought and May's FA Cup showpiece victory over Manchester City denying United's neighbours a domestic double.
That was one of two victories over City under Ten Hag, though they lost more games to Pep Guardiola's men (four) than any other team during his reign.
Most damagingly, Ten Hag's United were blown away in several big games, shipping 17 goals versus City and 16 against Liverpool. Of course, they were trounced 7-0 by the Reds at Anfield in March 2023 – the joint-heaviest competitive defeat in the Red Devils' history.
Ten Hag's reign ends after 128 games, with his 70 victories giving him the second-best win ratio (54.7%) of any United boss post-Ferguson in all competitions, after Mourinho (58.7%).
His record of 1.72 points per Premier League game, though, only bettered the figures managed by Moyes (1.68) and Ralf Rangnick (1.72) in that span.
Only Rangnick (0), meanwhile, has overseen a worse goal difference in the Premier League than Ten Hag (+11), among United bosses to manage at least five games.
And only Moyes (32.4%, 11/34) lost a higher percentage of his Premier League games as United boss than Ten Hag (31.8%, 27/85).
In the overall Premier League standings since Ten Hag took charge, they sit fifth with 146 points, some 57 adrift of first-placed Man City and also fewer than Arsenal (191), Liverpool (171) and Aston Villa (147).
Manchester United sack struggling Ten Hag
Manchester United have parted company with Erik ten Hag.
United lost 2-1 to West Ham on Sunday, and that defeat at London Stadium has proved the final straw for the club's ownership.
The Dutchman, who was only rewarded with a new contract in the summer following a win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final, had won just one of his last eight matches in charge.
United confirmed in a statement on Monday that Ten Hag, who joined the club from Ajax in 2022, had left his role.
"We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future," the statement read.
United announced that Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined Ten Hag's coaching staff this past summer, will take charge as interim head coach during the club's search for a permanent replacement.
The Red Devils sit 14th in the Premier League, having won three and lost four of their opening nine games. They have also drawn all three of their Europa League matches.
Ten Hag can point to his side missing chances this season – in fact, United have the biggest negative differential between expected goals and goals scored in the Premier League this season (eight goals scored from 14.6 xG).
However, defensively they have been poor for large swathes of Ten Hag's tenure. Indeed, since his first Premier League match in charge in August 2022, United have registered an xG against (xGA) of 136.
While they have only conceded 112 goals, their xGA is the fifth-worst of any ever-present Premier League side in that time.
Ten Hag departs having led United to two trophies – the EFL Cup in 2022-23 and last season's FA Cup.
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