Scotland’s trip to Slovenia on Saturday might not seem an obvious both teams to score selection, but I think there is a strong case for both sides finding the net. 

New Scotland boss Sebastian Pocognoli will be looking to bring his proactive approach to the national side. 

There was no shortage of goalmouth action even before his arrival, with both teams scoring in Scotland’s final four World Cup qualifiers, all of which produced over 3.5 goals. 

The Scots also failed to keep a clean sheet in their 4-1 friendly win over Curacao a few weeks before the World Cup.

As for Slovenia, three of their four matches this calendar year have seen both teams score, including their most recent outing, a 2-1 friendly defeat to Croatia in June. 

Goals at both ends in Slovenia’s two World Cup qualifiers against Sweden only strengthen the case for a repeat in Ljubljana on Saturday.

This represents a serious test for England after their World Cup semi-final elimination at the hands of Argentina, with Thomas Tuchel's men now setting their sights on the home European Championships as the prize to finally end England's long wait for silverware.

England are frequently criticised for not facing top-tier opposition often enough away from major tournaments, but the Nations League hands the Three Lions exactly that chance, with Croatia also drawn in their Nations League A group.

These two sides last met in the EURO 2024 final, where Spain ran out 2-1 winners to claim the trophy. Notably, each of the last four meetings between the nations has produced over 1.5 goals,  a useful historical pattern that strengthens the broader case for goals in this one.

England managed just two clean sheets in eight World Cup matches. They certainly have the firepower to trouble Spain, as demonstrated by the six goals they scored against France in the third-place playoff. 

Switzerland should dominate this Nations League B group, they’re comfortably the best and most experienced nation with the group also including Scotland and Slovenia.

Switzerland had a decent run at the World Cup, eventually crashing out to Argentina in the quarter finals. Prior to that defeat, they’d only lost one of their last 19 matches - suggesting that this is one of the most consistent sides on the continent.

North Macedonia failed to qualify for the World Cup, and have failed to win any of their last eight matches - including a 7-1 defeat to Wales. It’s hard to make a case for them here, even as the home side, given their previous struggles against more established European sides.

I was pretty disappointed with both of these nations at the World Cup, I had them down to progress further than they did with Czechia crashing out in the Group Stages and Croatia exiting to Portugal in the Round of 32.

I feel as though Croatia are in a bit of a decline following on from the height of their golden generation, which battled all the way to the final of the World Cup in 2018. There’s also a change in the dugout for the away side, with long term coach Zlatko Dalic leaving after 9 years of service.

That’s a significant change, and one that may take time for this Croatia side to adapt to. Czechia scored in two of their three games at the World Cup despite their early exit, with both of their goals coming from set pieces.

This will be their main threat here again, they scored 18 goals across eight games during World Cup qualifying (2.25 per game). They actually played Croatia as part of the qualifying process, recording an xG of 1.39 as the away side.