Scotland vs Israel: World Cup Qualifier preview, team news, TV channel, kick-off time
Defender Grant Hanley is suspended for the game but Scotland have an otherwise fully-fit squad; watch Scotland vs Israel live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm on Saturday, kick-off 5pm
Friday 8 October 2021 14:26, UK
Team news ahead of the World Cup Qualifier between Scotland and Israel on Saturday; kick-off 5pm.
After six fixtures and ahead of the double-header against Israel and then Faroe Islands away, the Scots are seven points behind the Danes, one ahead of Israel and four ahead of Austria in Group F.
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Coach John Carver said: "We are going into this game with a huge amount of confidence because if you go to Austria and get the performance and result that we got, then it gives you confidence.
"We do have some momentum and I am pleased with the fact that we have actually sold the stadium out. It is good for me because it will be the first time I have been involved at a game at Hampden with a full crowd.
"That just shows you how far we have come, how well the lads have done and it is nice to see that the fans and nation itself are getting right behind the team."
Carver believes the narrow but crucial win over Austria in Vienna set the standard for the visit of Israel.
He said: "We keep talking about raising the bar and setting the standard and I think we did that in Austria in a difficult environment against an excellent team who did well in the Euros so we knew it was going to be tough.
"But we set a standard and went there with no fear and that's what impressed me more than anything."
Team news
Carver reported a fully-fit Scotland squad ahead of the crucial 2022 World Cup Qualifier against Israel at sold-out Hampden Park on Saturday night.
After a morale-boosting 1-0 win in Austria last month, Steve Clarke's men sit in second place in Group F behind runaway leaders Denmark and with a Qatar 2022 play-off spot in their own hands.
Defender Grant Hanley is suspended for the game, but Carver said: "Everybody is fully fit. We had a good training session this morning, everybody took part. There was nothing afterwards so everybody is in good shape."
Opta stats
- After winning four of their first five games against Israel, Scotland are winless in four games against them (D3 L1), drawing 1-1 in Tel Aviv in the reverse World Cup qualifier in March.
- At Hampden Park, Israel are yet to taste victory in four attempts (D2 L2), with one of those draws seeing them lose 5-3 on penalties in a European Championships qualifier last October.
- Scotland have only lost one of their last 12 World Cup qualifiers (W7 D4), a 2-0 away defeat at Denmark in September. The Scots have kept seven clean sheets in these 12 games.
- Israel suffered a 5-0 defeat in their last World Cup qualifier against Denmark, their heaviest defeat in a World Cup qualifying game since June 1993, a 5-0 defeat at Sweden.
- Scotland are looking to win three consecutive home World Cup qualifiers for the first time since winning all five in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup.
- Only Memphis Depay and Aleksandar Mitrovic (seven goals each) have scored more European World Cup 2022 qualifying goals than Israel's Eran Zahavi (six). Zahavi has also scored in two of his three previous appearances against Scotland at Hampden Park, in November 2018 and September 2020 in the UEFA Nations League.
- Lyndon Dykes has scored in his last two World Cup qualifiers for Scotland, the winning goals against Moldova and Austria - the only Scottish player to ever score in three World Cup qualifying appearances in a row is Mo Johnston, who netted in five consecutively between September 1988 and April 1989.
- Aged 30 years and 320 days against Austria, Scotland's Paul McGinn became the third player aged 30+ to win their first cap under Steve Clarke, along with Andrew Considine and Paul Hanlon. The last manager to award more such debuts was Berti Vogts (Graham Alexander, Paul Gallacher, Derek McInnes, Paul Devlin and Malky Mackay).
How to follow
Live World Cup Qualifier
Scotland vs Israel is live on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm on Saturday, kick-off 5pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms shortly after the final whistle.
