Scotland Can Keep Qualification Hopes Alive With Win Over Czech Republic

Despite the general feeling that Scottish football is in crisis and the fact that Scotland have only managed to pick up four points from their four games so far Scotland still have a decent chance of qualifying, or at least reaching the playoffs, for Euro 2012. Scotland have a game in hand over Saturday's opponents Czech Republic and are currently five points behind them so a win in this game would give Scotland a great chance finishing second behind Spain in Group I but anything less than a win will probably see the end of Scotland's chances of Euro 2012 qualification.

 

Scotland will be boosted by the return of Darren Fletcher, he spent the latter end of last season suffering from a virus which has taken him months to recover from, and this should be his first appearance for Scotland in 2011 which is a massive bonus for Scotland as he is not an excellent and experienced midfielder but he also brings a winning mentality to the side. There was no place in the squad for Kris Commons as Craig Levein doesn't believe his form has been strong enough this season whilst Lee Wallace could miss out with an injury, the good news is Alan Hutton is ready to step in having missed recent matches with a knee injury.

 

Scotland have looked a different team in many respects since their narrow 3-2 loss against Spain, they have beaten Faroe Islands, Northern Ireland, Wales and Denmark whilst a 2-0 loss against Brazil isn't a bad result either. Considering Czech Republic only beat Scotland 1-0 at home, an improved result can certainly be expected back at Hampden Park, especially with Czech Republic winning just one of their last seven games and that one win was against Liechtenstein. Scotland are a more than fair price to win this match but a much safer option than backing the Scotland win is to back Scotland +1 in the asian handicap as the odds on that are still fair and the risk of the bet is much smaller.