There is no realistic reason, other than football — like any sport — can always produce a shock, to believe England will not beat Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.
This is one of the poorest Scotland teams in recent memory and not a single player from Gordon Strachan's squad would get into England's panel. Gareth Southgate has the luxury of selecting from the Premier League's elite teams while Strachan must mix and match those who perform in the Scottish Premiership, the lower reaches of the Premier League and the English Championship, where half his squad plays.
In qualifying matches for the European Championship and World Cup, England is unbeaten since 2009 and since then has won 26 and drawn eight (of course, what happens to England at major finals is another matter — too often qualification is followed by humiliation). Should England shut out Scotland, it would have gone 10 qualifiers without conceding a single goal. On paper at least, this is a mismatch.
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