Auld rivalries renewed as Scotland face England

Author: BBC Sport

Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Tuesday, 12 September Kick-off: 19:45 BSTCoverage: Listen on BBC Sounds, Radio 5 live & Radio Scotland and follow live on the BBC Sport website & app

It’s the oldest fixture in international football and the latest meeting of Scotland and England throws up all sorts of intrigue 150 years on from their first encounter.

While the gulf between the sides has varied over their long and entwined history, both nations meet at Hampden Park for this heritage match for a contest that could be hard to call.

The last meeting of the pair ended in a 0-0 draw at Wembley in Euro 2020 at the start of England’s journey all the way to the final, and Gareth Southgate’s side look well on course for returning to the tournament next year despite being held by Ukraine on Saturday.

For Steve Clarke’s Scotland, five wins from five games has them within touching distance of a second European Championships in a row, with many fans eager to see if they can claim their first win over the Auld Enemy this century.

‘Scots trying to close the gap’

Scotland manager Clarke says Tuesday’s friendly against England will be the perfect barometer of the progress his team has made.

Scotland are on the brink of reaching Euro 2024 after winning all five qualifiers so far and have risen 20 places to 30th in the world ranking under Clarke.

“In my lifetime, England have moved a bit in front [of Scotland],” he said.

“We are trying to close the gap on them and we’ll find out on Tuesday how much we’ve closed that gap.”

The Scotland boss expects “a competitive friendly, if you can have such a thing” at Hampden Park, not least because some players from the same club will be facing each other on the international stage.

He believes the run of matches that will mean Scotland take on England, followed by Spain in an away qualifier, and then a friendly against France in October, will help accelerate the development of his players.

Scotland need just two points from their final three qualifiers to guarantee an appearance at back-to-back Euros, although their place in next summer’s finals could also be secured on Tuesday if Norway and Georgia draw in Oslo.

“The more you play against the top sides, the better you become,” said the former Scotland right-back.

“This is the evolution of a group of young men who’ve grown up together and we’ve kept them together. We’ve got better and better.

“I’ve got some things I want to see on the pitch against England, testing ourselves against top opposition, which we are going to come across more often in the next 12-18 months.”

When asked about England being keen to secure Elliot Anderson after the Newcastle United midfielder pulled out of Scotland’s squad for the qualifier with Cyprus and Tuesday’s friendly, Clarke said “we like him too, so now he has a choice to make”.

England head coach Southgate has described the prospect of winning Tuesday’s derby as an “old-fashioned statement”.

While meetings between the two nations were regular occurrences in previous decades, Scotland and England have only met seven times since the turn of the century.

You have to go all the way back to 1999 for the last time England tasted defeat in this fixture, such has been the gulf between the two in terms of talent and big tournament experience.

“You’re testing yourself, proving yourself, learning as a team and representing the nation,” said Southgate.

“We see it as a really good test of us as a team. You’re playing a high level opponent in a really intimidating atmosphere and they’re the nights that have been important in our growing process.

“It’s a challenge that we’ve got to head towards and relish. We have huge ambition as a team but also have a lot of work to do.”

England go into the game on the back of a disappointing 1-1 draw away to Ukraine on Saturday, but still sit top of Group C and on course for Euro 2024 qualification.