Gibraltar vs Scotland predictions: Steve Clarke's men can find some winning momentum
- Gibraltar have lost their last 12 games in all competitions without scoring a goal
- Two of Scotland's last five wins, both against Cyprus, were by 3-0 scorelines
- Recommended bet: Scotland to win 3-0
Scotland are preparing for their second successive appearance at the European Championships this summer and will be hoping to go at least that one step further than Euro 2020 as they look to progress from the group stages for the first time.
They enjoyed an impressive qualifying run to book their place at Euro 2024 and will be hoping for a much stronger showing in Germany this time around.
The Tartan Army have their two final warm-up games this week with the first of those seeing them take on Gibraltar in Portugal on Monday.
Gibraltar have endured a terrible run of results and offer a chance for Scotland to build some momentum ahead of their opening game of Euro 2024 against hosts Germany on Friday June 14.
The Scots have scored six goals in each of their previous meetings with Monday's opponents but go into the game having not won in seven games, while a number of injury issues have tempered thoughts of a runaway success.
Team news
Gibraltar boss Julio Cesar Ribas has shown his desire to rejuvenate his squad by naming six previously uncapped players, including goalkeepers Jaylan Hankins and Christian Lopez, along with defenders Tayler Carrington, Ethan Llambias and Kevagn Ronco.
Chesterfield's Liam Jessop has also been named in the squad for the first time and will be hoping to make an immediate impact, given Gibraltar's goalscoring woes, while Manchester United youngster James Scanlon could make a first start after making cameo appearances off the bench in two recent defeats to Lithuania.
Scotland are a striker short after Lyndon Dykes — who started five and featured in all eight qualifiers — was ruled out of Euro 2024 with an injury suffered in training.
Che Adams and Lawrence Shankland will be hoping to get the nod to lead the line on Monday, although boss Clarke has not yet ruled out calling up a replacement for the QPR striker to bolster his options.
Lewis Ferguson, Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson are also on the sidelines, while Stuart Armstrong, John Souttar and Scott McTominay missed game-time towards the end of the season as well as some training this week and may not be risked.
The stats
These two sides met in European Championship qualifying in 2015 with Scotland winning 6-1 at Hampden before triumphing 6-0 at the Estadio Do Algarve.
Gibraltar have lost their last 12 games in all competitions without scoring a single goal, which includes a 14-0 hammering in France.
Only three of those defeats saw Gibraltar concede fewer than three goals, although two of those came against Lithuania in their last two matches in back-to-back 1-0 defeats. Four games in that run saw team 54 lose 3-0.
Steve Clarke's men won their opening five games in qualifying for Euro 2024, keeping four clean sheets in that run, but failed to win any of their last three.
Scotland have not won any of their last seven games, losing five, the most recent of which came in a 1-0 reverse to Northern Ireland last time out in March.
Prediction
While this may have been previously expected to be a walk in the park for Scotland, the waters have been muddied by a dismal run of form and something of an injury crisis.
Still, it is taking far too much of a leap to be thinking of an upset, given that Gibraltar have not scored since November 2022, a run of 12 games, with that last goal coming in a 1-0 home win over Andorra.
Scotland should win while keeping a clean sheet but a play on the correct score is worth chancing given the circumstances, particularly with Clarke expected to make a raft of changes during the game.
Four of Gibraltar's last 12 defeats have been by a 3-0 scoreline, while two of Scotland's last five wins — against Cyprus home and away — have been likewise.
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