Scotland v England Six Nations predictions and rugby betting tips

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Where to watch Scotland v England

Scotland v England will take place at Murrayfield at 4.45pm on Saturday, live on BBC One

Scotland v England betting odds

To win the match
Scotland 8-13
England 13-8
Draw 22-1

Handicap
Scotland -3
England +4

Best bets for Scotland v England

Either team to win by one to six points or draw
2pts 6-4 bet365

Drop goal to be scored
1pt 5-2 BoyleSports

Scotland v England teams

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn; Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson; Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings; Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Alec Hepburn, Elliot Millar-Mills, Sam Skinner, Andy Christie, George Horne, Ben Healy, Cameron Redpath. 

England:  George Furbank; Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Danny Care; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Dan Cole; Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum; Ethan Roots, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Spencer, Fin Smith, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.  

Scotland v England team news

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn and Kyle Steyn return to the Scotland back three while there is a recall for former captain Jamie Ritchie

England: Full-back Freddie Steward has been dropped and George Furbank starts in his place. Danny Care starts at scrum-half for the injured Alex Mitchell.

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Scotland v England predictions and betting tips

Scotland start as favourites against England for the first time in a Six Nations match and it's hard to argue they don't deserve their status.

It's not just the Scots' record of one defeat in the last six Calcutta Cup showdowns and a run of three successive victories, the hosts have looked the better side in this year's tournament even if neither team has shown the consistency.

However, while there's an unfamiliar starting point for this year's clash it's not hard to imagine a repeat of a recognisable pattern and outcome in what looks set to be another gritty and tense encounter between these fierce rivals.

Scotland have won this fixture in the last three years by margins of six, three and five points while none of the last six meetings has been won by more than 12 points, with a draw thrown in there too.  None of the last nine Six Nations meetings at Murrayfield has produced more than 38 points and the four fixtures involving these nations in this year's Championship have been settled by four points or fewer.

Scotland's steady improvement over the last few years has been in large part down to the strength of their attack and England's new-look blitz defence has shown a few teething problems in the opening two rounds, especially against Italy, who exploited gaps in the line to outscore England three tries to two.

But England were better in that regard last week against Wales and also used the pragmatic kicking game of George Ford to play for territory. Away from home in a hostile environment against a team fired up after losing in controversial circumstances last time out, England surely won't hesitate to use similar tactics and grind out a win.

Scotland play with plenty of ambition and their back three is boosted this week by the return of Blair Kinghorn and Kyle Steyn alongside arch danger-man Duhan van der Merwe. But England showed how well they can dig in when they kept Wales scoreless in the second half at Twickenham last week and everything points to another close and low-scoring match.

The best bet, then, could be in bet365's Tribet which offers 6-4 about either team winning by no more than six points or a draw - the selection is marked as Any Other Result in the market.

And a close-fought match could also see an increasingly rare drop goal, most likely from England fly-half Ford. Drop goals have gone out of fashion a little but Ford kicked three in England's World Cup pool match when England were up against it and down to 14 men, while there were also drop goals in their quarter-final and semi-final matches at that tournament.

England have to make sure territory is rewarded with points in a cagey contest and the World Cup showed it is part of their playbook.

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