Your five-minute guide to Scotland v Republic of Ireland

Michael Grant: Can a player be pivotal if he isn't 100 percent certain to be on from kick-off? Steven Fletcher is probably going to lead the line for Scotland, but only probably. Gordon Strachan likes Chris Martin a lot and it wouldn't be out of character if he threw in an unexpected pick by selecting the Derby man. Fletcher helped make goals in Germany and Poland and much about his game is very impressive. His scoring record isn't. One goal in 17 for Scotland isn't enough. Boy, he could do with a goal tonight. He's joked that John O'Shea can't get near him when they're training at Sunderland. Good. Let's hope there was some truth in it.

Pivotal players for Scotland? Strachan needs them everywhere. The back four have to handle Keane and Aiden McGeady. Brown and Morrison have to boss the midfield (sharper passing this time, guys). Anya, Maloney and Naismith need to buzz like wasps.

For the Irish, can Keane and McGeady hurt Scotland? Will Seamus Coleman have Anya in his pocket? Will stand-in Jeff Hendrick and Darron Gibson cope in central midfield? This has the feel of a bottom half Barclays Premier League scrap.

Stewart Fisher: Any player could prove pivotal in a match where one piece of inspiration or mis-step could decide the outcome, but Aiden McGeady seems as good a place to start as any. The former Celtic and Spartak Moscow player is the main source of creativity in Martin O'Neill's team, and wherever he pops up tonight, Scotland must be able to nullify him if they are to succeed. He lined up wide on the right in a 4-4-2 against Germany, and behind the lone striker in Georgia, but with Seamus Coleman able to offer attacking width at right back, tonight he may start wide left. With Alan Hutton out, Steven Whittaker is the man who may have to hold the line.

KEY CLASH

MG: Whittaker v McGeady. What is this, a 2008 Old Firm game? Whittaker is arguably third-choice Scotland right-back, after Alan Hutton and Phil Bardsley, but he'll have to handle Ireland's potential matchwinner. Whittaker's defending isn't always the best, but when he does deliver he's good enough to obstruct McGeady's running and crosses. Over to you, Whitts.

SF: There is an established football cliché about the importance of winning your one-to-one battles but Scotland's best chance of scoring a goal will come if Steven Naismith can leave the Republic's central midfield and defence confused about whose job it is to pick him up. Injury to James McCarthy and Glenn Whelan robs Martin O'Neill of his two most reliable holding players, with Naismith's Everton team-mate Darron Gibson and Derby's athletic Jeff Hendrick likely to be the replacements. It all offers a further window of opportunity to the in-form Naismith, who is a master at locating pockets of space in there and making late runs to get into goalscoring positions. O'Neill may designate one of the two specifically to man-mark him, but this potentially provides more space for Scott Brown and James Morrison to pick their passes.

TACTICAL BATTLE

MG: "A British-style game." "A derby." "A cup tie." That's what Strachan and O'Neill have been saying. Send the children to bed and put the pets somewhere safe, this ain't gonna be pretty. Scotland like to suck teams in and counter-attack but no-one's going to be sucking Ireland too far forward when they've got 33-year-old O'Shea at the back. This will be a 100mph war of attrition, won and lost in midfield (where Scotland look stronger). Win your individual battles, lads, and to hell with the niceties.

SF: Football, like warfare, is about how to deploy your big guns, a game of thrust and counter thrust. With Coleman a potential threat down the right, and the robust Jonathan Walters of Stoke likely to be ahead of him, does Gordon Strachan opt for the height and experience of Charlie Mulgrew at left back or merely take Coleman on at his own game by allying Hull City's Andrew Robertson to the efforts of Ikechi Anya? In the end, much may depend on which of the two likely lone strikers, Steven Fletcher and Robbie Keane, can hold the ball up best against a pair of physical centre halves and bring his wide men into play. Scotland are playing catch up and need a win more, but can they be patient enough to make the game without leaving themselves wide open?

SCORE PREDICTION

MG: 1-0 Scotland. Take it to the bank. Put your mortgage on it. Spend the winnings in advance. It's a cert. Maybe...

SF: The proverbial cigarette paper could be used to separate these two teams, but the loss of three potential starters down the spine of the Irish team (McCarthy, Whelan and Marc Wilson) could just tip the balance. I fearlessly predict 1-0 Scotland (Naismith).