Switzerland looked in strong form as they beat Hungary 3-1 in the opening round of fixtures. Murat Yakin’s side created 2.33 xG against a more defensively robust outfit than Scotland, with seven shots on target.

The Swiss exploited the same type of weaknesses in Hungary as Germany exposed when they played Scotland. They found room between the lines impressively against a five-man defence and four-man midfield.

Scotland turned in a wretched display against an admittedly powerful Germany team, as they lost 5-1. The Scots’ confidence will be at a low ebb after a run of one win in 10 international matches, which came against minnows Gibraltar. Much of the sparkle has long gone from their performances and they will do well to rekindle it in these circumstances.

Scotland have been weak defensively in recent games. Steve Clarke’s men have conceded at least two goals in seven of their last nine matches.

Expected to lead the line for Switzerland on Wednesday, having only made his international debut against Estonia earlier this month, Duah scored the opening goal for Switzerland against Hungary.

He was lively throughout that encounter, having three shots, including two that hit the target. His club form has also been excellent this season, scoring 13 in 16 for Ludogorets in Bulgaria’s top-flight.

Scotland gave up shots on target to both Germany’s two centre forwards in their opening match, with both Kai Havertz and Niclas Fullkrug scoring against Steve Clarke’s side.

The middle of Scotland’s defence is their weakest area, with Grant Hanley playing in the Championship, Jack Hendry turning out in Saudi Arabia and Kieran Tierney playing in what is effectively a secondary position for him.

They will also be without usual starter Ryan Porteous after he was sent off for a rash challenge against Germany. Duah will be expected to exploit this.

Scotland only committed nine fouls against Germany in the first game but have been roundly criticised for lacking aggression in the correct areas of the field. Look for a response in this match. The Scots should be expected to put more pressure on the ball, play at a higher speed and seek to win possession higher up the field.

Clarke’s side posted a high foul count in qualifying. They gave up at least 12 fouls in six of eight matches, posting steadily high numbers in this regard.

Across their qualifying matches, they picked up 12.8 fouls per match. Of the teams that qualified for the finals, Scotland were behind only Ukraine (13.6 per 90) in this regard and Clarke will want his side to get back towards that level of proactiveness in this game.

After a heavy defeat in the first game, gamestate could help this bet, with Scotland likely to take more risks in their challenges in the latter stages of this game if the result is going against them. They have been very public about the need to get at least a draw, as two defeats and a goal difference of at least -5 would make qualification very difficult.

Scotland will want to show more attacking intent in this game after failing to get a single shot of any kind away against Germany, and the man likeliest to be a direct threat to the Switzerland goal is Scott McTominay.

The Man United midfielder had a team-high eight shots on target in qualifying, from which he scored seven goals. This worked out as 1.10 per 90 minutes. When he gets into good areas, he has been efficient for his national team, hitting the target with 40% of his shots in qualifying.

McTominay is the type of player that Switzerland struggled to pin down in their first match. Hungary got joy from crosses, and the Manchester United midfielder should be able to use his height to good effect from these situations. Scotland’s strength is getting the ball into the box from wide areas via Andy Robertson on the left.

Scotland picked up 19 cards across their eight qualifying games, which translates as 2.38 per match, while they received two cards in their opening match against Germany. Of the teams that qualified for Euro 2024, only Turkey (3.38), Georgia (2.52) and Hungary (2.50) saw more yellow cards.

Switzerland’s more aggressive approach saw them pick up three bookings in their first game, and the referee will be Ivan Kruzliak, who is known to dish out cards. Across the 33 games he has overseen this season, Kruzliak has delivered 150 cards at an average of just under five per game. His average in European club football this season is 4.13 cards per match, although this is skewed slightly by giving ten yellows in one Conference League game.

He brandished six (five yellow, one red) as Manchester United lost 3-2 at home to Galatasaray and five more (all yellow) as Barcelona beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 in the Champions League. He also notably sent off Celtic’s Daizen Maeda as the Hoops were hammered 6-0 by Atletico Madrid.

Freuler posted the highest foul count among Swiss players in qualifying, picking up 1.19 fouls per 90 minutes. He committed fouls in six matches, and in five of these, he gave away multiple free kicks.

Germany defensive midfielder Robert Andrich committed four fouls against Scotland in the opening match of the competition, and with Clarke’s side liable to be more successful at controlling possession against Switzerland, they will seek to put pressure on Freuler.

During qualifying, Scotland’s three leading foul winners were central midfielders John McGinn, McTominay and Ryan Christie. Each picked up more than 1.51 fouls per 90 over the course of the campaign.