Saturday, September 7, 2013

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International Opta Facts (UK teams) – September 10





Macedonia v Scotland

Macedonia and Scotland have a perfectly even record in previous clashes, winning one apiece with one draw.

Macedonia collected a 1-0 victory in their one previous home clash against Scotland, back in qualification for the 2010 World Cup.

The Red Lynx have won five and lost just one of their last six home internationals.

Aleksandar Trajkovski has scored a goal inside the final 10 minutes of each of Macedonia's last two internationals.

No team has been shown more yellow cards in European World Cup qualification than Macedonia (23).

Scotland have lost four of their last five internationals.



Wales v Serbia

Serbia's 6-1 hammering of Wales in Novi Sad back in September 2012 came in their first meeting against Chris Coleman's side as an independent nation, although they did do the double over them as Serbia and Montenegro back in qualification for Euro 2004.

Wales have conceded more goals from outside the box than any other European side qualifying for the 2014 World Cup (six).

Gareth Bale has scored four of Wales' seven goals in World Cup 2014 qualifications.

Serbia have lost three consecutive away internationals; they have never lost four in a row as an independent nation.

Indeed, the White Eagles have won none and lost four of their last five competitive away games.

Just one of Wales' last 48 international games has ended in a draw.



Austria v Republic of Ireland

Austria have won four and lost just one of seven competitive meetings with Ireland (D2).

In six previous away games against Austria, Ireland have won none, lost five and conceded 19 goals, scoring just twice themselves.

In each of the last three games that Austria have scored in, Bayern Munich defender David Alaba has been one of the scorers.

After defeat to Germany in their opening home game, Das Team have won three consecutive qualifiers in Vienna, scoring 12 in the process.

Ireland have scored just one goal in their last four away games combined (D3 L1).



Luxembourg v Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland have won one and drawn one of two previous internationals against Luxembourg.

Luxembourg have won just one of their last 13 internationals (D3 L8).

Aurélien Joachim has scored in two consecutive internationals for the Red Lions.

The Red Lions have only won five home games in all competitions since 1995, and all four have ended 2-1.

Michael O'Neill's side have won just one of their last 15 internationals, drawing five and losing nine.

On the road, Norn Iron have not won a game since September 2010, when they won 1-0 in Slovenia (D3 L7).

Northern Ireland have been caught offside more often than any other team in European World Cup qualification this time around (33).



Ukraine v England

This will be England's seventh meeting with Ukraine, and their third already under Roy Hodgson. The Three Lions have won four and lost just one of their previous six (D1).

England's only away game in Ukraine ended in defeat (excluding neutral venues), however, though Fabio Capello's side had already qualified for the 2010 World Cup when they lost there in October 2009.

England have only lost one of their last 13 competitive away games (excluding neutral venues), but that defeat came in Ukraine (W9 D3).

The Three Lions have found the net in 15 of their last 16 competitive away games, but once again the blank in this run came in Ukraine (0-1).

Injured striker Wayne Rooney has netted in each of England's last three World Cup qualifiers on the road and also netted in England's last away friendly in Brazil.

Roy Hodgson's side have found the net in 29 of their last 30 internationals in all competitions, with the exception being a 0-0 draw with Italy in Euro 2012 that ended in a penalty shootout defeat.

Excluding that shootout defeat, England have not lost a competitive game since the 2010 World Cup hammering by Germany (W11 D8).

Roy Hodgson has, however, seen his side alternate between a win and a draw in their last nine competitive fixtures. For this run to continue, this game must end level.

Frank Lampard could make his 100th international appearance in this game, becoming the eighth player to reach the milestone.

Since Lampard's debut in 1999, 99 different players have debuted for the Three Lions.

Ukraine have won seven and lost none of their last eight internationals, keeping four consecutive clean sheets and conceding just two in total in this run.