Scotland have won each of their last three matches against Czech Republic, their longest current winning run against any of the other 23 nations qualified for Euro 2020. It’s the first meeting between both sides at a major tournament (World Cup or European Championship).
Jaroslav Silhavy names an unchanged line-up from their win against Albania. West Ham duo Soucek and Coufal start for the visitors in a line-up which also includes the familiar face of former Chelsea centre-back Kalas. Schick leads the line as he gets the nod ahead of Krmencik for the trip to Hampden Park.
Perhaps the biggest news for the Scots is that Kieran Tierney misses out today through injury. Clarke opts for four changes in total. Cooper replaces Declan Gallagher and Hendry comes in for the injured Tierney at the back. In midfield, Armstrong is preferred ahead of McGregor and further forward Adams makes way for the inclusion of Christie.
SUBS: Michal Krmencik, Adam Hlozek, Matej Vydra, Tomas Pekhart, Jakub Brabec, Antonin Barak, David Zima, Petr Sevcik, Tomas Holes, Ales Mandous, Pavel Kaderabek, Ales Mateju.
CZECH REPUBLIC (4-2-3-1): Tomas Vaclik; Jan Boril, Tomas Kalas, Ondrej Celustka, Vladimir Coufal; Tomas Soucek, Alex Kral; Jakub Jankto, Vladimir Darida, Lukas Masopust; Patrik Schick.
SUBS: Che Adams, Scott McKenna, Billy Gilmour, Kevin Nisbet, Jon McLaughlin, James Forrest, David Turnbull, Ryan Fraser, Callum McGregor, Craig Gordon, Greg Taylor, Nathan Patterson.
SCOTLAND (3-5-2): David Marshall; Jack Hendry, Liam Cooper, Grany Hanley; Andrew Robertson, Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Stuart Armstrong, Stephen O’Donnell; Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes.
Czech Republic’s summer friendlies got off to a poor start as they were dispatched of 4-0 by Italy. A 3-1 victory over Albania, however, will give the visitors confidence coming into the game at Hampden Park today. A runners-up finish to Germany at Euro 1996, followed by semi-final and quarter-final appearances in 2004 and 2012 prove that the Czechs are more than capable of holding their own in this tournament.
This fixture marks Scotland’s first match at a major tournament since the 1998 World Cup. The hosts qualified for this tournament courtesy of back-to-back victories on penalties over both Israel and Serbia. Steve Clarke’s team will be satisfied with their pre-tournament preparations, having played out a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands before beating Luxembourg 1-0.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Euro 2020 Group D clash between Scotland and Czech Republic at Hampden Park.
