Greece vs Scotland prediction: EUROPE: UEFA Nations League – League A/B – Relegation betting tips on match 2025-03-19 19:45.
[p]Following the latest UEFA Nations League (UNL) campaign in which the group stage drew to a close last November, League B’s Greece must now face League A’s Scotland over two legs in order to determine who begins next season in the top flight. Relegation/promotion play-offs are a new addition to the UNL, and Greece enter this inaugural action with momentum on their side, winning five of their six games under Ivan Jovanovic. [/p]
[p]Two of those victories came against British Isles nations, England and Ireland, with the former only pipping them to automatic promotion by virtue of a superior H2H record. Playing at home will likely give Greece the edge in this first leg if form is indicative given that they are unbeaten in ten of their 12 UNL home games (W8, D2, L2), keeping an incredible nine clean sheets therein. [/p]
[p]Playing in a difficult League A group alongside Croatia, Portugal, and Poland, top-flight debutants Scotland did well to avoid automatic relegation by picking up all of their seven points across the final three rounds (W2, D1). Scotland do have the slight advantage of playing the second leg at home as they seek to avoid an immediate return to the second tier, although the limited H2H history doesn’t give much to go on (W1, L1).[/p]
[p]Losing 1-0 in their only prior trip to Greece back in 1994, Scotland will look to make amends by securing what would be just their second pair of consecutive UNL away victories in the competition’s four-year history (W4, D1, L6). Rarely seeing games off comprehensively, half of Scotland’s away defeats in this competition also saw them score the opening goal, including a pair of 2-1 defeats after going ahead in two of their last three trips. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Scoring 12 times across his last 13 club appearances for Benfica, Greece’s Vangelis Pavlidis seeks a fourth UNL goal after hitting a brace earlier in the season against England. Scotland and Hearts teenager James Wilson now juggles schoolwork with international duties having earned his first call-up after scoring five goals from just six shots on target in the Scottish Premiership this season. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Greece kept a clean sheet in seven of their eight overall UNL home victories. [/p]
[p][i]Written by Matthew Billon[/i][/p]