England vs Scotland: Two familiar foes meet up once again at Wembley
England will be looking to make it two wins out of two as they take on familiar foes Scotland at Wembley on Friday. The Three Lions come into this match having secured a well-deserved win over Croatia, which also happens to be their first opening match win in their Euro history. Raheem Sterling’s 57th minute goal made the Manchester City striker the hero of the day and now has put Gareth Southgate’s men in a good position to secure a round of 16 spot for themselves.
While it was a very quiet day at the office for Tottenham star Harry Kane, England nonetheless got the result they wanted. Scotland, meanwhile, were dealt a horrible shock on opening day as they lost 2-0 to the Czech Republic. It was far from the outcome fans and coach Steve Clarke would have expected, and now it leaves Scotland, who are back in the Euro competition for the first time since 1996, with an unenviable mountain to climb. Ironically, Scotland’s only competitive meeting with England was at that Euro edition; they ended up losing 2-0, with Southgate part of England’s winning squad.
Scotland’s record against England is quite dire, to say the least. They’ve won just one of their last 11, losing eight, and that win was back in November 1999. While the Three Lions aren’t without their flaws, the fact that Scotland were outplayed by the Czech Republic – a team that they should have done much better against – doesn’t look good for the visitors. Arguably, Scotland and the Czech Republic appeared to be pretty evenly matched, and if they couldn’t get a result there, the odds don’t look good – on paper at least – for them to come away with anything in hand from this upcoming match.
That being said, England would be remiss to dismiss Scotland. Any of their opponents in this quartet have the capacity of causing them major issues. Against Croatia, a team who have fallen from grace since they shocked the world with their run to the 2018 World Cup final, England had to work really hard to earn those three points, and had to be on their guard throughout. Croatia will now face the Czech Republic in a match that’s best described as a toss-up; either team could end up picking up all three points.
And the Three Lions will be welcoming a team who will be desperate for a result, plus have a largely fully-fit squad. England, by contrast, will still be missing several faces, including Liverpool and Manchester United skippers Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire, plus Aston Villa skipper Jack Grealish missed training recently and if he does get involved, it will be from the bench, most likely. But with Scotland failing to score in five of their last seven Euro matches and starting off on such wobbly footing, one can’t blame England and their fans for already starting to wonder who they’ll take on in the round of 16.
