The British football battle

England against Scotland will surely be the most interesting game in the upcoming round of the World Cup qualifiers. There are lots of matches between these two British teams in the history of the international games. Both teams have played their first international match one against other on 30th November 1872 in Partick (Scotland). However, the match has finished with a 0-0 draw. Since then, these two teams have met on 111 occasions. There have been 47 victories for The Three Lions, 24 draws and 41 wins for the Scots.

Most of the matches between England and Scotland have been a part of the British Home Championship. But, there are also a few games, which were qualifiers for either the European Championship or the World Cup. The only game between these two teams at the European Championship was in 1996, when England was the host nation and The Three Lions won the game 2-0 after the goals of Alan Shearer and Paul Gascoigne.

England and Scotland played 9 matches in the last 30 years. The Scots have only won 1 of these games (in 1999), while The Three Lions have recorded 7 victories and a draw.

To continue with, the situation in qualifying Group F is very interesting. England are topping the table with 7 points after 3 matches. The Three Lions won against Slovakia and Malta and were lucky not to lose against Slovenia in Ljubljana. Scotland recorded 4 points and the team is lying in 4th position. The Scots won 5-1 against Malta, then drew vs. Lithuania at home and lost the third match to Slovakia 0-3.

The big news for Scotland is the return of Scott Brown, who has recently announced his retirement from international football. The Celtic midfielder has been in a great shape and he is expected to help a lot his nation. In addition, Gordon Strachan has brought in the squad new faces like Stephen Kingsley, who has only appeared for his nation once. The left fullback is one of the hot prospects, as he is a part of Swansea City.

Jack Wilshere and Harry Kane are back in the England’s squad. The Tottenham Hotspur striker was injured and didn’t take part in the previous England matches from the qualifiers, but he is now ready to play. Wilshere has recently shown a real improvement in his form and that’s why he is back in the squad. If Scotland wins the game, the situation for England will become really complicated, because Slovenia have an easy game against Malta, which they will probably win, while Slovakia are to host Lithuania. So, The Three Lions need the three points, so do Scotland.

England’s squad for the match:

Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Torino), Tom Heaton (Burnley); Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Michael Keane (Burnley), Danny Rose (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Tottenham); Eric Dier (Tottenham), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jack Wilshere (Bournemouth), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Man Utd), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace); Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester).

Scotland’s squad for the match:

Craig Gordon (Celtic), Jack Hamilton (Hearts), David Marshall (Hull); Christophe Berra (Ipswich), Gordon Greer (Blackburn), Grant Hanley (Newcastle), Stephen Kingsley (Swansea), Russell Martin (Norwich), Callum Paterson (Hearts), Lee Wallace (Rangers); Ikechi Anya (Derby), Barry Bannan (Sheffield Wednesday), Scott Brown (Celtic), Oliver Burke (Leipzig), Darren Fletcher (West Bromwich), James Forrest (Celtic), James McArthur (Crystal Palace), John McGinn (Hibernian), James Morrison (West Bromwich), Matt Ritchie (Newcastle), Robert Snodgrass (Hull); Steven Fletcher (Sheffield Wednesday), Leigh Griffiths (Celtic), Chris Martin (Derby), Steven Naismith (Norwich).