If Scotland are to reach next year’s World Cup, then they can ill-afford to drop any points in either of their two games with Belarus. Steve Clarke’s side should be feeling a lot better about themselves after putting in a spirited display to earn a 0-0 draw away at Denmark on Friday night. As such, I think the Scots look well placed to put three points on the board against what should be a confidence-stricken Belarus team.

Carlos Alos’ side endured a nightmare start to their campaign by suffering a 5-1 thrashing away at Greece on Friday night, so morale is certain to have been dented in the Belarus camp. It’s also worth noting that the White Wings won’t have home advantage on Monday night, as this Group C clash will be played at a neutral venue, not to mention it will be behind closed doors, with no fans.

Scotland stamped their ticket to Euro 2020 playing in similar circumstances, and their superior class should tell on Monday night.

Given the quickfire nature of this qualifying campaign, I think that this fixture already has a must-win feel about it as far as Scotland are concerned. Therefore, Steve Clarke’s side will have to take a more front-footed approach against Belarus on Monday night, so a minimum of two match goals looks well within range.

Ahead of Friday night’s 0-0 draw in Denmark, Scotland had scored in eight of their previous 10 matches across all competitions, with seven of those contests producing at least two match strikes.

While Belarus were well beaten by Greece on Friday night, they showed that they carry an attacking threat by grabbing a consolation goal with one of their four on-target efforts. In fact, the White Wings have now scored in six of their last seven matches, which suggests to me that Scotland may need multiple goals if they are to take top honours in Hungary.

It was no real surprise to see that Scotland’s solitary shot on target against Denmark on Friday night came from Scott McTominay. The 28-year-old midfielder has been Scotland’s most potent attacking weapon across the last couple of years, with 11 of his 12 goals for the national team arriving across his last 25 appearances.

While Scotland tend to play in a pragmatic manner under Steve Clarke, I suspect the Scotland boss will let the handbrake off a little in this clash, given that three points could prove to be crucial in his side’s bid to reach next year’s summer showpiece.

With that in mind, the aforementioned McTominay looks like the standout player to register at least one on-target effort against a Belarus side that shipped five goals in Greece on Friday. McTominay has worked the opposition goalkeeper one or more times in nine of his last 12 appearances for Scotland.

Aaron Hickey was one of Scotland's most impressive performers in Denmark, and I think he merits support to attempt a minimum of one shot against Belarus on Monday night. The Scotland right-back likes to get forward when the opportunity presents itself, evidenced by the fact that he was responsible for two of the Scots’ 11 shots on goal in Copenhagen.

Belarus saw their goal get bombarded with 30 shots against Greece on Friday night, with a whopping 15 of those efforts hitting the target. While I wouldn’t expect Scotland to replicate the Greeks' hefty numbers here, they should certainly enjoy a lot more possession from what they did on Friday night (26%).

What’s more, I suspect both Scotland full-backs will find themselves in advanced areas for large spells of the game on Monday night, making a minimum of one effort from Hickey well within range.

I think Scott McTominay is the standout value in the anytime goalscorer market on Monday night. The Napoli ace has become something of a talismanic figure for Scotland over the past couple of years. In fact, McTominay has notched 11 times across his last 25 outings on the international stage, including seven goals during Scotland's qualifying campaign for Euro 2024.

It’s also worth noting that McTominay was the only Scotland player to score at last summer's Euros, not to mention he has since struck three times during the most recent edition of the Nations League.

That doesn’t bode well for a Belarus side that are not accustomed to keeping clean sheets, evidenced during their 5-1 hammering in Greece on Friday night. The fact McTominay has also been on penalty kick duty in recent times only adds to the appeal of siding with this selection.

Look to Valeri Gromyko to pick up a booking on Monday night. The Belarus midfielder has collected five cards across his 26 appearances for his country thus far. However, a deeper dig shows that four of those bookings have arrived over Gromyko’s last 11 outings for the White Wings, including each of his last two appearances.

On top of that, Gromyko has also been a regular offender at club level this season, racking up seven yellow cards and one red across his 22 domestic appearances for Kairat Almaty this term.

Typically stationed on the right hand side of Belarus’ midfield four, I think there is plenty of scope for Gromyko to have his name taken on Monday night. The 28-year-old is likely to cross paths with John McGinn, who has drawn a combined total of seven fouls across his last three appearances for Scotland in competitive contests.

Lewis Ferguson is the one to watch from a cards perspective for Scotland in this game. Having returned from a long-term injury earlier this year, Ferguson finally appears to be establishing himself as a key cog in Scotland's midfield engine room.

That has coincided with Ferguson collecting a yellow card in each of his last three competitive appearances for Scotland - tackling his way into trouble in both legs of a Nations League play-off tie with Greece, before going into the book against Denmark last time out.

It's also worth pointing out that the tough-tackling 26-year-old was booked in two of the three matches that he started for Bologna during the league phase of last season’s Champions League. Ferguson is likely to be deployed as the deepest of Scotland’s midfield duo on Monday night, so his combative streak will have to be on show when required.