England and Scotland will meet for the 113th time on Friday when they clash in a crucial 2018 World Cup qualifier at Wembley.

Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions will be hoping for a win which would put some daylight between them and the rest of the teams in Group F, having dropped points last time out in Slovenia.

Interim boss Southgate will take charge of his third game since being placed in temporary charge, and he’d love to register a win over the Scots in a bid to secure the role permanently in the near future.

For Scotland, it’s been a testing few months.

Gordon Strachan is under pressure after picking up just four points from their first three games – the last of which was a 3-0 battering in Slovakia back in September.

However, Strachan and his men will know that victory at Wembley would put them level on points with Friday’s opponents, and give them a decent chance of qualifying from the group.

The build-up is well underway ahead of the 113th meeting between the sides, and here are TEN things you need to know ahead of the game on Friday…

Oldest rivalry in world football

England have won 47 of the 112 meetings between the two teams, while Scotland have recorded 41 victories.

However, the recent record certainly favours the Three Lions, who have only lost one of their last nine games against their neighbours, which was back in 1999 when Don Hutchison’s header sealed a 1-0 win for the Scots at Wembley.

They have only met twice this millennium, both of which were friendlies, and England have won both, beating Scotland 3-2 at Wembley in 2013, and 3-1 at Celtic Park in 2014.

Last meeting

The last meeting between the two sides was a friendly at Celtic Park on November 18 2014, where England ran out 3-1 winners under the stewardship of Roy Hodgson.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain gave the Three Lions the lead with a deft header from Jack Wilshere’s driven pass, before captain Wayne Rooney reacted quickest to double England’s lead two minutes into the second half.

Andrew Robertson gave Gordon Strachan’s side hope with a well-worked goal seven minutes from time, but any hopes of a rescuing a draw from the encounter were ended when Rooney netted his 46th international goal after some neat football from the visitors.

England’s recent form

England are unbeaten in their last 15 qualifying matches, of which they have won 14, with that draw against Slovenia ending a winning run dating back to a 0-0 draw in Ukraine in September 2013.

The Three Lions have only lost one of their last ten matches in all competitions, that infamous 2-1 defeat to Iceland in Euro 2016, and they’ve kept four clean sheets in their last five games.

England have lost just one of their last 15 home matches – a 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands back in March – and go into this one hoping for another victory over their neighbours.

Scotland’s recent form

Scotland’s recent form is nothing to shout home about.

They have won just one of their last five matches, and conceded nine goals in that time, with the only success a 5-1 thrashing of Malta in September.

Strachan’s side have won five of their last 13 qualifiers, but only two of their last eight, which came away at Gibraltar and Malta.

Nevertheless, the Scots will look to bounce back from that disappointing 3-0 loss in Slovakia with a much better performance and result at Wembley on Friday.

How did the managers get on against each nation when they were playing?

Gareth Southgate played twice against Scotland during his nine-year international career.

The England defender started in their 2-0 win back in Euro 96, when Gazza scored that incredible goal, but Southgate was also part of the team that lost 1-0 at Wembley in 1999.

Gordon Strachan played four times against England in his career.

He lost his first two games in 1980 and 1983, but picked up a 1-1 draw against the Three Lions in May 1984.

However, he went one better in what was his last game against England by helping the Scots to a 1-0 win at Hampden Park.

How will they fare as managers on Friday?

Scottish hat-trick heroes

11 hat-tricks have been scored against England over time, and the first five of these came from Scotsmen!

John McDougall scored Scotland’s first ever hat-trick in a 7-2 win over the Auld Enemy in 1878, and George Ker got the second when the Scots won 5-4 in 1880.

Just a year and a day later, John Smith scored three in a 6-1 thrashing of England, but the Scots then had to wait another 19 years for their next hat-trick against their neighbours, when Robert Smyth McColl, who netted three hat-tricks in the space of 13 months for Scotland, put three past the Three Lions in 1900.

Alex Jackson then made it five successive Scotsmen to net a hat-trick against England in a 5-1 win in 1928.

Although there hasn’t been any since, could a member of this Scotland side make it six?

Darren Fletcher

West Brom midfielder Darren Fletcher could move up to third on the all-time Scottish caps list should he appear against England on Friday.

The 32-year-old has 76 caps for his country, having made his debut 13 years ago against Norway, and could join former Scotland manager Alex McLeish in third with 77.

He has still got some way to get into second on the list, with Jim Leighton sat on 91 caps, which is 11 behind Kenny Dalglish at the top.

Arsenal invincibles

Theo Walcott doesn’t often lose when he plays for England.

The 27-year-old has been involved in 46 England matches since his debut against Hungary in 2006, and the Three Lions have only lost three of them (W33 D10).

Scotland will be hoping that the Arsenal winger doesn’t play on Friday, but they’ll be relieved that Gunners teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t in the squad!

The 23-year-old has appeared 24 times for his country since his debut four years ago, and they have never lost when he has been on the pitch (W18 D6).

Scotland’s blunt forward line

Strachan has four forwards in his squad for the game against England, with Chris Martin, Steven Fletcher, Steven Naismith, and Leigh Griffiths appearing 92 times between them.

However, between the four of them, they have only netted 17 goals, nine of which have come from Fletcher.

Naismith is the most experienced with 43 caps, yet has scored just six times, while Griffiths has yet to net a senior goal in his nine games.

Add in the fact that all of them bar Martin all either out of form or out of their club side, it’s not looking great for Scotland ahead of the match on Friday.

For the debutants

England versus Scotland matches have provided some players with their international debuts, and some have revelled in the atmosphere by netting in their first international match.

Sir Bobby Charlton, England’s former record goal-scorer before Wayne Rooney surpassed him in 2015, made his debut against the Scots in April 1958, and the first of 49 England goals in a comfortable 4-0 win.

However, Rickie Lambert bettered that by not only scoring on his international debut against Scotland, but by doing so with his first touch!

The former Southampton and Liverpool striker headed home what turned out to be the winner back in 2013, as England sealed a comeback win over Scotland in their first meeting since 1999.

There are only four players in the two squads still searching for their debuts and, although two of the are goalkeepers (Jordan Pickford and Jack Hamilton), England’s Michael Keane and Aaron Cresswell must be relishing the chance to get on the pitch!