Starting match will be played at 21:45 Malta – Scotland, in the first stage of qualifying Group F at the World Cup in 2018. Although the band has managed Maltese surprises in recent years, Scotland is considered the main favorite.
Malta
In previous qualifiers, Malta was handled extremely poorly, even for her level. It ended Group H qualifying for Euro 2016 last position with only 2 points obtained in the results of equality with Azerbaijna (2-2 at home) and Bulgaria (1-1). Also, we should mention that outside parties ended in a draw, Malta has not managed to score even once.
In other news, 3 goals in the previous campaign, Malta is situated on one of the last places in terms of offensive force. Even so, unlike the other species selected from the last world football, Malta descruca admirably on the defensive, losing matches against strong opponents to extremely limit: twice with Italy 0-1, 0-1 against Croatia or 0- one with Bulgaria. So, starting from this premise, we can expect a match with few goals.
Scotland
On the other hand, Scotland, and opponent in this match, he had extremely high claims from previous qualifications. This time, in a group with England, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta and Lithuania, slection “white-blue” can hope for second place, even if it is extremely difficult to obtain. To keep the chances intact, Scotland must not make missteps with the teams below them in terms of value (Malta and Lithuania) and manage to capitalize on the chances they will face counter-candidates Slovenia and Slovakia (starting from premise that England will fight for the first place).
In previous qualifiers, Scotland selected was very close to qualification for Euro 2016. It ended in 4th place Group D with a total of 15 points, with just 3 lengths behind Ireland, who went to the tournament in France.