Nations League: Can Scotland build new momentum? | Football News

Scotland will be looking to build on renewed momentum when they face an out-of-form Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

Victory over Armenia in their opening Nations League game was exactly what was needed to ease the heartache of their World Cup play-off defeat to Ukraine.

Scotland dominated from start to finish and probably should have scored more goals. Travelling to Republic of Ireland will be a different prospect regardless of how they have started this campaign.

They take on an Ireland side who have lost their opening two Nations League matches knowing victory would take them a step closer to winning the group and securing a play-off for Euro 2024.

Scotland proved in the World Cup qualifiers that they could win away from home, beating second seeds Austria in Vienna plus victories over Moldova and Faroe Islands, which sound like bankers but have not proved so in previous years. If Scotland have any hopes of winning this group then that is what they should be looking to do, win in Dublin.

Steve Clarke knows better than anyone what winning your group in the Nations League can lead to.

After Alex McLeish did so in 2018, Clarke steered Scotland to Euro 2020 via the playoffs, an opportunity brought about by winning their Nations League group.

Promotion to the A division would also benefit this team going forward by playing top opposition on a regular basis.

Another key factor this time around is seeding for the European Championship qualifiers. That is why this Nations League campaign is important. Scotland finished runners-up in their World Cup qualifying group as a pot 3 team. The top two in the Euro qualifiers go to Germany.

First things first, Scotland need to get their first win in Dublin in 22 years to put them in a strong position for the September triple header.