Scotland can reignite their hopes of reaching next summer's World Cup by making it six points out of six from the current international break on Monday night.
Gordon Strachan's men face Malta at Hampden Park having seen off Lithuania convincingly away from home on Friday.
That has left them four points off second place and with the current incumbents of that position, Slovakia, away at England, Scotland may have a chance to further close the gap.
| Game | Scotland vs Malta |
| Date | Monday, September 4 |
| Time | 19:45 BST / 14:45 ET |
TV CHANNEL & LIVE STREAM
In the UK, the match will be available to watch live on television on Sky Sports Football and by online stream using Sky Go.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Football | Sky Go |
In the US, the match will not be available to watch live on television but can be streamed online via ESPN3.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | ESPN3 |
SQUADS & TEAM NEWS
| Position | Scotland players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Archer, Gordon, McGregor |
| Defenders | Anya, Berra, Hanley, R. Martin, Mulgrew, Robertson, Tierney, Whittaker |
| Midfielders | Armstrong, Brown, Forrest, Fraser, McArthur, McGinn, Morrison, Phillips, Ritchie, Snodgrass |
| Forwards | Griffiths, C. Martin, Naismith |
Tom Cairney and Steven Fletcher left the squad before the Lithuania match due to injuries and now Darren Fletcher and Barry Bannan have also dropped out.
Strachan could name an unchanged team after the win in Lithuania, though Matt Ritchie and Ryan Fraser will hope to push for a starting place out wide.
Potential starting XI: Gordon; Tierney, Berra, Mulgrew, A. Robertson; Brown; Forrest, Armstrong, McArthur, Phillips; Griffiths.
| Position | Malta players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Bonello, Hogg |
| Defenders | Agius, S. Borg, Camilleri, Failla, Johnson, Magri, Z. Muscat, A. Muscat, Zerafa |
| Midfielders | C. Borg, R. Fenech, P. Fenech, Kristensen, Gambin, Pisani |
| Forwards | Farrugia, Mifsud, Schembri, Effiong |
Malta have Alfred Effiong back in contention after he served a suspension against England.
He replaces Ryan Camilleri, while left-back Joseph Zerafa is expected to shake off a knock in time to be in contention.
Potential starting XI: Hogg; S. Borg, Magri, Agius, Z. Muscat, Zerafa; Gambin, R. Fenech, Pisani; Schembri; Farrugia.
BETTING & MATCH ODDS
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Scotland are 1/16 favourites to win, according to dabblebet, with Malta priced at 50/1 and the draw available at 12/1.
Click here to view dabblebet's full selection of match markets.
GAME PREVIEW
Scotland's bid to qualify for a first World Cup since 1998 has been revived by their confidence-boosting 3-0 win over Lithuania.
If Gordon Strachan's team can now take care of business against group minnows Malta, they will trail second place by only a point should England register the home win that will be expected of them against Slovakia.
Scotland and Slovakia will then meet at Hampden Park in the first of each team's final two qualifiers next month in what could be a group-defining fixture.
The greater pressure is still on the Scots; Slovakia also have a home match against Malta left, so regardless of what happens on Monday night they may only need to avoid defeat in Glasgow to go into the play-offs.
But having laboured to a win against Slovenia and then coughed up two points in the dying seconds of their game against England, Scotland will be delighted if they can work themselves back into a position to make the Slovakia match mean something.
