THREE-DOM! Clarke roar: Now Scots must fight for hat-trick
ENGLAND are through, so today’s Kosovo game is a bit of an irrelevance – but what else are you going to do on a cold, wet Sunday than cheer on Raheem?
Better will be Denmark v Ireland and Germany v N Ireland – crucial qualifiers also live on TV this week.
But the real cruncher is Saturday evening’s match.
Citeh could find themselves a daunting 12 points behind Liverpool, who play earlier, by the time they kick off against Chelsea – and Lamps’ lads have lost only two Prem games this season.
It will surprise few of you, who are aware that Citeh have been on the box most of the season, but from Saturday they will
NEIL’S FIVE MUST-SEE GAMES Today: Kosovo v England
Euro 2020 Qualifier, 5pm, ITV
Tomorrow: Republic of Ireland v Denmark, Euro 2020 Qualifier, 7.45pm, Sky Sports Mix/main Event
Tuesday: Germany v N Ireland Euro 2020 Qualifier, 7.45pm, SS
Saturday: West Ham v Spurs Premier League, 12.30pm, BT Sport 1
Saturday: Man City v Chelsea Premier League, 5.30pm, SSPL
hardly be off it! ALL 10 of their games are being televised until December 29, when TV planners decided their match against Sheffield United wouldn’t be much of a contest. Er, yes, Mr Wilder, I agree.. how very wrong.
And that leads me to...
All Prem and Citeh fans should be aware that, from December 3, 20 top-flight matches will be live and exclusive ONLY on
Amazon Prime Video – including Burnley v Citeh.
So my Clarets mate
Tony from the pub had better sign up to Prime or get his pals at Turf Moor to reserve a ticket sharpish.
All early December and all Boxing Day games will be on Prime. Then it goes back to the other channels.
But the real question is: will Pep’s off-form team truly be in prime?
STEVE CLARKE is backing his Scotland stars to win three games on the bounce for the first time in two years as they head for the Euro 2020 play-offs.
His depleted team followed up their victory over San Marino last month with a morale- boosting result in Cyprus yesterday.
Goals from Ryan Christie and John Mcginn put the Scots third in Group I ahead of their last qualifying match against Kazakhstan on Tuesday night.
And Clarke is determined to make it a hat-trick of wins to ensure his side have confidence going into the play-offs next year.
The last time they achieved a win treble was in 2017 under Gordon Strachan when they beat Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia in succession.
After the victory in
Nicosia, Tartan Army boss Clarke said: “I’ve got a smile on my face because it was important to build on the San Marino victory.
“We knew coming here would be a difficult game because it was a difficult game at Hampden in June.
“But I thought when we went in front we were the better team.
“On Tuesday I’m looking for another three points in a home game at Hampden.
“It would be nice to see the supporters get behind the players again and hopefully we can finish with three wins in a row. I’m reliably informed that it would be the first time in two years, so that’s another target for us.”
Scotland were fortunate after surviving an early let-off when Georgios Efrem’s shot hit the crossbar and appeared to land over the goalline.
With no VAR in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, the Cyprus appeals fell on deaf ears.
Christie curled home a fine 12th-minute finish for his first Scotland goal before Efrem volleyed a leveller just two minutes after the break. But
Mcginn’s close-range strike six minutes later earned the first back- to- back wins under Clarke – even though the home side pressed late on.
Clarke’s side looked good going forward against the Cypriots but still showed signs of vulnerability at the back.
He knows there’s still plenty of room for improvement ahead of their March play-off tests, but was delighted with his side’s reaction when the home side equalised.
Clarke said: “I’m not going to sit here and say it was fantastic. It was a good performance.
“And sometimes when you are on the run of games we are coming out of, the
win is more important than the performance.
“The win was crucial for us because it gives us the opportunity to go home against Kazakhstan, get another three points and set us up nicely for the play-offs.
“We have things we can improve on in the team. But if you want to be really good and scintillating going forward sometimes you have to sacrifice a little defensively and that’s the same for any team in the world.
“So rather than go down the negative route, I would say we are still a work in progress.
“I feel we are getting better and it was just really important to win the game.”