With Steve Clarke’s side reeling from their Euro 2024 humbling against Germany, we look ahead to Wednesday’s clash with our Scotland vs Switzerland prediction and preview.
Scotland vs Switzerland Stats: The Key Insights
- Switzerland are backed for victory by the Opta supercomputer, defeating Scotland in 50.4% of pre-match simulations.
- Scotland have won just six of their 33 matches at major tournaments (World Cup/Euros), a win rate of 18%.
- Breel Embolo has scored in each of the last three major international tournaments, becoming only the second Swiss player to do so.
Scotland are in desperate need of a response when they meet Switzerland in Cologne on Wednesday after Steve Clarke’s side suffered a record Euro 2024 thrashing against hosts Germany.
A 5-1 win for Julian Nagelsmann’s side on Friday saw Germany enjoy the biggest win by a host nation in their opening match at a European Championship tournament, and their biggest victory ever in this competition.
Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz, Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can were all on target as Scotland, who had Ryan Porteous sent off for a mindless first-half lunge, suffered their second-heaviest defeat at a major tournament.
Only their 7-0 loss to Uruguay at the 1954 World Cup was heavier, and Scotland could lose both of their opening two matches of a major tournament for the fourth time, after the 1954 World Cup, 1986 World Cup, and 1992 Euros.
Such a dismal performance was at odds with the fighting spirit from the thousands of travelling supporters in Munich, with Scotland recording just one shot in their opening game. That is their fewest number of shots in any international since a friendly against Italy in May 2016 (also one shot).
Before the start of Euro 2024, Clarke was keen to stress four points is the target needed for his side to progress from Group A. But that now appears a stretch particularly if Friday’s humbling – and Scotland’s recent record on the international stage – is anything to go by.
Scotland have won just six of their 33 matches at major tournaments, a win rate of 18%. Among European nations with 25+ matches played at such events, only Bulgaria (13% – 4/32) have a worse win ratio.
Any hopes of atoning for that woeful record may seem fanciful given the form of Wednesday’s opponents, who overcame Hungary 3-1 on Saturday in Cologne.
Kwadwo Duah and Michel Aebischer both scored on their first appearances at the European Championships, while Breel Embolo sealed victory late on after Barnabás Varga had pulled one back for Hungary.
Another win at this competition means Switzerland have only lost two of their last 14 group games at major tournaments, winning seven and drawing five.
The Swiss will now be looking to win both their opening two matches of an edition at a major tournament for the first time ever, in what is their 18th participation at the World Cup (12) and Euros (six).
Granit Xhaka will be integral for Murat Yakin’s midfield once more come Wednesday’s kick-off. The former Arsenal midfielder created more chances than any other player against Hungary (four), with all of those coming from open play.
Xhaka was also only the second Switzerland player to create four or more open-play chances in a single match at the European Championships, after Steven Zuber against Turkey in 2021 (five), and his service will be key for Embolo and Duah again here.
Embolo has scored in each of the last three major international tournaments, becoming only the second player to score in three separate such competitions for Switzerland, along with teammate Xherdan Shaqiri (five).
Indeed, Embolo’s four goals at the World Cup/Euros are behind only Shaqiri (nine) and Josef Hügi (six) for Switzerland, who will fancy their chances of adding to an impressive scoring record in Cologne.
Switzerland have scored 3+ goals in three of their last four matches at the European Championship, scoring 10 goals in this period, which is more than they netted in their first 15 Euros games beforehand (nine goals).
Scotland vs Switzerland Head-to-Head
This will be just the second meeting between these two sides at a major tournament – Scotland won 1-0 in the group stages at Euro 1996, thanks to a goal from Ally McCoist.
Yet that victory marks Scotland’s only win in their last five matches against Switzerland in all competitions (D2 L2).
This pair last met in March 2006 when the Swiss won 3-1 in a friendly at Hampden Park as goals from Tranquillo Barnetta, Daniel Gygax and Ricardo Cabanas did the damage.
Kenny Miller scored the only goal for Scotland on that day, and Clarke will be praying a repeat does not occur here – otherwise his side could be heading for an early exit in Germany.
Scotland vs Switzerland Prediction
The Opta supercomputer backs another Switzerland victory on Wednesday, with Yakin’s side overcoming Scotland in 50.4% of 10,000 pre-match simulations.
Clarke’s men recorded a much-needed triumph in 23.6%, while the draw was forecast in 26.0% of data-led sims.
Scotland vs Switzerland Squads
Scotland
Angus Gunn, Liam Kelly, Zander Clark, Andy Robertson, Anthony Ralston, Grant Hanley, Greg Taylor, Jack Hendry, Kieran Tierney, Liam Cooper, Ross McCrorie, Ryan Porteous, Scott McKenna, Billy Gilmour, Callum McGregor, James Forrest, John McGinn, Kenny McLean, Lewis Morgan, Ryan Christie, Ryan Jack, Scott McTominay, Stuart Armstrong, Ché Adams, Lawrence Shankland, Tommy Conway.
Head coach: Steve Clarke
Switzerland
Gregor Kobel, Yann Sommer, Yvon Mvogo, Cédric Zesiger, Fabian Schär, Leonidas Stergiou, Manuel Akanji, Nico Elvedi, Ricardo Rodríguez, Silvan Widmer, Ardon Jashari, Denis Zakaria, Fabian Rieder, Granit Xhaka, Michel Aebischer, Remo Freuler, Renato Steffen, Rubén Vargas, Steven Zuber, Vincent Sierro, Xherdan Shaqiri, Breel Embolo, Dan Ndoye, Kwadwo Duah, Noah Okafor, Zeki Amdouni.
Head coach: Murat Yakin
Scotland vs Switzerland Predicted Lineups
Scotland vs Switzerland Key Players
Opta Points is a quantitative player metric for football that scores a player’s contribution at the game and season levels. Based on each side’s opening fixtures, here are their top-performing players at Euro 2024 so far:
Scotland:
Andy Robertson (10.0)
Scott McTominay (10.0)
Kieran Tierney (8.4)
Switzerland:
Michel Aebischer (30.2)
Granit Xhaka (26.6)
Kwadwo Duah (23.4)
With the launch of Opta Max for Euro 2024, you can predict the Player of the Match in four featured games each round and earn points for your predictions. The points can then earn you big cash prizes. Sign up to play for free.
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