North Macedonia vs Scotland prediction, tips and odds | Nations League

Saturday's Nations League B Group One fixture carries genuine stakes at both ends of the table: North Macedonia sit bottom with no points and a goal difference of minus five, and Scotland are just one place above them after a solitary draw from two matches.

Group B1's top two have already pulled clear of these sides, which means the losers in Skopje will face a steep climb to avoid relegation over the remaining three matches. Those monitoring the best UK new betting sites ahead of the game will find Scotland clear favourites despite four matches without a goal, a run stretching back to John McGinn's winner against Haiti at the World Cup.

Preview: North Macedonia vs Scotland

Goce Sedloski has not won a match since taking the North Macedonia job in December last year, and the picture has darkened considerably with the Nations League campaign.

A 3-0 home defeat to Switzerland and a 2-0 loss in Slovenia have left his side without a goal across six consecutive matches, a painful low point for the national team.

The irony is that North Macedonia earned their way here: they won promotion from League C in the previous cycle and reached the World Cup play-offs, where they lost to Denmark in March.

That momentum has since completely evaporated, with Sedloski's early international record fuelling calls for his exit from the likes of former North Macedonia star Igor Gjuzelov, who said, “He should be honest with himself and resign immediately.”

However, Gjuzelov did admit that “Even if Sedloski does go, it won't get any better for the next guy,” as the Lions “[Do not] have the quality of players to make an impression or the depth to improve.”

Captain Enis Bardhi, who has scored 20 goals across 83 international appearances, remains the one player capable of unpicking a defence on his best days, though his own Nations League campaign is yet to produce anything meaningful.

Andy Robertson travels to Skopje tomorrow poised to earn his 100th Scotland cap, while the team around him are still searching for their first win under Sebastien Pocognoli.

Pocognoli was appointed in August after Steve Clarke resigned following a World Cup group-stage exit, and his opening two matches have returned one point without a goal.

Matchday one's goalless draw in Ljubljana saw a competent performance against a Slovenia side currently second in the group, but the 3-0 home defeat to Switzerland was a different matter, with Jack Hendry's dismissal inside 11 minutes reducing Scotland to 10 men for virtually the entire game.

To make matters worse, Scotland have failed to score in any of their last four matches, and are just 25 minutes shy of recording their longest run in 154 years without finding the back of the net.

The key reason Scotland remain favourites despite that stretch is their away record under Clarke's reign, which Pocognoli has now inherited as a base – the Tartan Army lost just one of their last nine clashes on the road, winning six times and keeping seven clean sheets across that spell.

Readers looking at markets with the best UK bookmakers for football will notice that Scotland produced 2.16 expected goals against Slovenia, a figure that compares very favourably with North Macedonia's average of 0.37 across their two opening matches, a gap that tells its own story even before the suspensions and injuries are factored in.

Team news: North Macedonia vs Scotland

North Macedonia team news

The loss of left-back Ezgjan Alioski deprives Sedloski of his most capped option in that position, and Boban Nikolov's withdrawal from central midfield has forced a reliance on younger players.

Sedloski made eight changes to the starting XI between the Switzerland and Slovenia fixtures, so further rotation is possible.

Enis Bardhi and Bojan Miovski are both expected to start after featuring from the bench in Ljubljana, with the Rangers striker hoping to end the Lions' drought against what should be a more open defensive shape than the Swiss or Slovenians presented.

Teenager Matej Gashtarov has been the brightest performer of the Nations League campaign so far, leading North Macedonia's own numbers for tackles, interceptions and possession won across the two matches. He offers work-rate and tenacity in the double pivot even if the output in the final third has not yet followed.

North Macedonia predicted lineup vs Scotland

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Dimitrievski; Ilievski, Zajkov, Musliu, Alomerovic; Atanasov, Gashtarov; Mitrovski, Bardhi, Elmas; Miovski.

Scotland team news

Hendry's suspension is the only enforced change for Scotland, with Stephen Welsh set to come into the back three alongside Scott McKenna and Luis Binks as a result. Welsh, who came on early during the Switzerland defeat when Hendry was sent off, will earn his third cap.

Scott McTominay's continued absence from the squad means Billy Gilmour and Lewis Ferguson are expected to carry the midfield together, a partnership that held up reasonably well in Ljubljana.

McGinn is pushed further forward as the attacking midfielder in Pocognoli's 3-4-1-2 shape. He already drew level with Jim Leighton's 91 Scotland caps during last month's Switzerland defeat, and a start on Saturday would be his 92nd appearance, moving him outright into third place on the all-time list behind only Andy Robertson and Kenny Dalglish.

Kieron Bowie is set to start beside Oli McBurnie up top, with Robbie Ure another option during his first international break with the senior squad.

Scotland predicted lineup vs North Macedonia

Predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Gunn; Binks, McKenna, Welsh; Hickey, Gilmour, Ferguson, Robertson; McGinn; Bowie, McBurnie.

Head-to-head: North Macedonia vs Scotland

There have been four meetings between these sides in total, all in World Cup qualifying between 2008 and 2013, with Scotland winning twice and North Macedonia once, alongside a single draw.

The Lions' win came in the first showdown, a 1-0 home victory in Skopje in September 2008, though the Tartan Army took revenge by winning 2-0 at Hampden Park in 2009, drawing 1-1 there in 2012, and securing a 2-1 victory back in Skopje in September 2013.

With that in mind, Saturday's clash will be the first meeting between the sides in 13 years, though the squads have changed entirely and the tactical landscape in Scottish and Macedonian football has shifted considerably since, making any direct inference from those four encounters largely redundant.

Our North Macedonia vs Scotland prediction and tips

These four selections sit alongside our wider more betting tips and predictions across Saturday's Nations League programme.

For a closer look at the markets, head to our William Hill bookie review, where new customers can also find the current William Hill welcome offer.

Odds correct as of Friday, 2 October 2026, 18:30 BST.