Scotland vs Israel World Cup Qualifying Prediction & Tips

Andrew Hendrie: Oct 9, 2021

Scotland and Israel square off for the seventh time in the last three years as the two nations clash in a vital World Cup qualifying showdown on Saturday night at Hampden.

Scotland vs Israel Prediction, Tips & Preview

Scotland vs Israel free World Cup qualifying betting tips, prediction and preview – the last four meetings between the teams have produced under 2.5 goals…

Scotland vs Israel Prediction

Best Scotland win odds with Ladbrokes
Best Scotland win & under 2.5 goals odds with bet365

Scotland have won two of their last three home games vs Israel
The last four meetings between the teams have produced under 2.5 goals
Scotland have seen under 2.5 goals in six of their last seven games
Six of Scotland’s last eight wins have seen under 2.5 goals
Israel have failed to score in their last four defeats
Scotland have won their last two World Cup qualifying matches by 1-0 scores
Lyndon Dykes (Scotland) scored in both of those aforementioned matches
Eran Zahavi (Israel) has scored in two of his last three games at Hampden

Scotland vs Israel Match Details

🌏 Competition: World Cup Qualifying
🗓 Date: Saturday October 9 (Sunday October 10 AEDT)
⏰ Time: 3.00am AEDT
🏟 Stadium: Hampden Park (Glasgow)

Scotland vs Israel Head to Head (last five matches)

29/3/21: Israel 1-1 Scotland
19/11/20: Israel 1-0 Scotland
9/10/20: Scotland 1-0 Israel
5/9/20: Scotland 1-1 Israel
21/11/18: Scotland 3-2 Israel

Scotland vs Israel Preview & Tips

There won’t be any secrets at Hampden on Saturday as Scotland and Israel do battle against each other for the seventh time since October 2018.

Scotland have won two of their three home meetings with Israel, while the last four have seen under 2.5 goals.

Given Scotland’s much-improved defence under Steve Clark and an attack that can sometimes lack creativity and flair, we are backing another relatively low-scoring game here.

Scotland have scored nine goals and conceded five this World Cup qualifying campaign, but four of those goals came in one game against the Faroe Islands.

It’s been a decent return to action for Scotland after a solid Euros campaign, suffering an expected away loss to Denmark before registering back-to-back 1-0 victories over Moldova and Austria.

Those wins have propelled the Tartan Army to second spot behind Denmark in Group F, one point ahead of Israel – meaning another three points would see Scotland gain a stranglehold on second.

By contrast, Israel have seen goals galore in their last six fixtures dating back to April, with the nation winning four of those six games.

Israel have seen a total of 29 goals in those six internationals, with all six producing over 3.5 goals – including 4-0 and 5-0 defeats against quality teams in Portugal and Denmark.

Israel no doubt have the ability to threaten in the final third, but that has largely been countered by Scotland’s rock solid defence in recent encounters and we expect that trend to continue.

VERDICT:

Scotland have been improving for the last few years now and are the better team heading into this clash, while they also have home ground advantage and rarely lose qualifying games at Hampden against these sorts of sides.

In saying that, we don’t expect Scotland to blow Israel out off the park – as mentioned, their attack – spearheaded by Lyndon Dykes – doesn’t have a lot of firepower and they tend to rely on their defence to come out on top.

The last four meetings between the teams have seen under 2.5 goals and we’re backing Scotland to dig out a scrappy win in another low-scoring affair (Best Scotland win odds $1.91 with Ladbrokes.)

Scotland vs Israel Stats

Scotland have won two of their last three home games vs Israel
The last four meetings between the teams have produced under 2.5 goals
Scotland have seen under 2.5 goals in six of their last seven games
Six of Scotland’s last eight wins have seen under 2.5 goals
Israel have failed to score in their last four defeats
Scotland have won their last two World Cup qualifying matches by 1-0 scores
Lyndon Dykes (Scotland) scored in both of those aforementioned matches
Eran Zahavi (Israel) has scored in two of his last three games at Hampden

Scotland vs Israel Team News

Grant Hanley is sidelined through suspension for Scotland, but they receive a big boost in midfield with Scott McTominay returning from injury. Stuart Armstrong also comes back into the squad.

Defender Haten Elhamed is out for Israel through suspension, with Nir Bitton – who plays for Celtic – a possible replacement. Eitan Tibi and Orel Dgani are also missing.