Ukraine and Scotland meet in Krakow on Tuesday night as both sides seek promotion to the top tier of the Nations League.
Three wins on the bounce have Steve Clarke’s Scots on the brink of promotion to League A, most recently coming from behind to beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 thanks to goals from Jack Hendry and Ryan Christie.
Ukraine had been the favourites to go up but the defeat to Scotland earlier in this international break saw them leapfrogged at the top of Group 1.
The match is being played in Poland as Ukraine are required to play their home games at neutral venues following Russia’s invasion until further notice.
Ukraine vs Scotland H2H results (Last 4 Games)
Current Form (Last Five Games)
Ukraine team news
Serhii Sydorchuk is absent for Ukraine, having picked up a second yellow card of the competition in the victory in Armenia.
Artem Dovbyk came off the bench to first assist Danylo Ignatenko and then net himself and could be rewarded with a start here. Exciting young talent Mykhaylo Mudryk may also feature in the starting XI.
Ukraine Starting 11 (3-4-3): Lunin; Zabarnyi, Kryvtsov, Matviyenko; Karavaev, Stepanenko, Ignatenko, Mykolenko; Yarmolenko, Dovbyk, Mudryk.
Bench: Volynets, Riznyk, Kacharaba, Bondar, Zubkov, Yaremchuk, Tsygankov, Mykhailichenko, Malinovskyi, Pikhalyonok.
Scotland team news
Scotland have been struck down by a bug going around the squad in the buildup to this fixture.
Strikes Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes have both been struck down by illness, though the former says he has trained and is ready to play. Scott McKenna, Scott McTominay and Kieran Tierney have all had to pull out of the squad in the past few days.
Scotland Starting 11 (4-2-3-1): Gordon; Hickey, Hendry, Gallagher, Taylor; McLean, McGregor; Armstrong, McGinn, Christie; Adams.
Bench: Kelly, McCrorie, Ralston, Fraser, Jack, Gilmour, Doig, Porteous, Dykes, Kingsley, McKay.
Scotland have had two rather draining games against Ukraine and the Republic of Ireland – though they came through both with victories – and head to Poland with a number of key players missing.
Ukraine will be fired up themselves, having coasted past Armenia, and only a win here will do if they want to top the group.
It’ll be an evening filled with anxiety for Tartan Army fans, but they may well scrape the result they need to go up.
