Che Adams vs Mikola Matviyenko
Steve Clarke will be hoping striker Che Adams has taken confidence from finding the back of the net for Scotland in their last outing against Armenia in June. The Southampton man has also had a reasonable start to the campaign for his club as he’s registered four goals so far this term. Adams has proved a favourite for Clarke and he will be an important figure if Scotland are to gain a result against Ukraine. The 26-year-old will likely be up against Shaktar Donetsk defender Mikola Matviyenko. He has enjoyed an impressive opening to the league campaign and also starred against Celtic and RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
Greg Taylor vs Andriy Yarmolenko
With skipper Andy Robertson out injured, Steve Clarke faces a selection dilemma of who to play in the left-wing back role. Kieran Tierney is back in the Scotland camp after an injury left him out for the last round of fixtures, but a lack of central defenders could see him still utilised in a back three. With this in mind, expect Greg Taylor to be given the nod in the wide role. He has played some of his best football so far this season with Celtic and is really growing into his role under Ange Postecoglou. If selected against Ukraine, Taylor would likely line up against former West Ham star Andriy Yarmolenko. The experienced midfielder is now plying his trade in the United Arab Emirates with Al-Ain and he will need to be kept quiet. Yarmolenko is his country’s top scorer with 45 goals from 102 caps.
Kieran Tierney vs Roman Yaremchuk
As previously mentioned, Hampden boss Clarke will likely utilise Tierney on the left of a back-three. Grant Hanley and Liam Cooper are both not in the squad, meaning defensive bodies are relatively inexperienced. Clarke knows what he will get from Tierney, and he should link up with Taylor well on the left flank. The Arsenal man missed out on the last round of fixtures due to injury, but he has been starting regularly for Arsenal with Oleksandr Zinchenko currently out with a knock. Tierney and the rest of the backline will have to look sharp with Roman Yaremchuk likely to start in the striker role for Ukraine. The frontman broke Belgian transfer records in the summer as he moved to Club Brugge for a fee of around £16million from Benfica. Scotland know all about him after his impressive showing at Hampden during the World Cup play-off match.
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