National anthem time... Not long to go now.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland at the Astana Arena

The home fans, along with the help of the public address announcer, are driving up the atmosphere inside the stadium. With the roof being closed, the noise is bouncing around the stadium and the 1,000-strong Tartan Army are playing their part.

Has old Tom English got you worried?

The potential banana skin list includes an artificial pitch and a journey across six time zones.

I'm going to thrown in the fact that the hosts have only lost one of their past six home matches and then quickly move on to positive thoughts only.

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer on Sportsound

Scottish clubs have made the 3,000-mile trip to Kazakhstan before - with mixed results. Actually, make that bad results.

Celtic played Astana in the Champions League qualifiers in 2016 and 2017, progressing each time.

They drew 1-1 on the same Astana Arena artificial surface that Scotland will play on, before losing 4-3 the following year after a 5-0 first-leg triumph.

Celtic also beat Shakhter Karagandy in 2013 when Scotland winger James Forrest netted a stoppage-time winner in Glasgow to complete a comeback from a 2-0 first-leg defeat.

Aberdeen were knocked out of the Europa League in 2015 by Kairat Almaty, losing 2-1 on the road before a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie.

So, that's one draw and three defeats in Kazakhstan. Gulp...

Image source, SNS

This is a first for the Tartan Army since Scotland have never played Kazakhstan before.

Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The national team played their first game in the summer of '92 and spent 10 years in the Asian Football Confederation before a switch to Uefa.

Ranked 117 in the world, this is their fourth appearance in European Championship qualifying and the first time they are not the bottom seed - San Marino are the lowest ranked side in Group I.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Michal Bilek makes six changes to the starting line-up for his first competitive game in charge of Khazakhstan.

The former Czech Republic head coach was at the helm for a 1-0 friendly win over Moldova last month.

But he has persuaded former AC Milan and Watford midfielder Alexander Merkel, who currently plays in the Dutch top flight with Heracles Almelo, to return to the squad and the 27-year-old wins his second cap - four years after his debut.

Kairat midfielder Islambek Kuat comes into midfield and captains the side.

Astana's Yevgeny Postnikov and Yan Vorogovskiy join Kairat's Gafurzhan Suyumbayev in defence, while Baktiyar Zaynutdinov, who plays for Rostov in Russia, comes into midfield.

Centre-half Yuriy Logvinenko and midfielder Bauyrzhan Islamkhan are missing through injury.

Image source, SNS

Belgium, with their array of stars, are strong favourites to top the group.

The Red Devils are currently ranked the number one side in the world. Having finished third at the World Cup last summer, they eased to a 4-0 friendly win at Hampden in September.

So is it all about a race to the runners-up spot with Russia?

Belgium are at home to the Russians later on this evening, while Cyprus host San Marino.

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Alex McLeish's side have a 43% chance of qualifying automatically from Group I, according to Simon Gleave of sports data analysts Gracenote.

Their modelling suggests that Scotland hopes have increased from 34% after a "much better than average draw" that sees them face Belgium, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Russia and San Marino.

As I just mentioned, Scotland are guaranteed to claim at least a play-off place after winning their Nations League group and this is still the most likely means for them to reach the finals in 2020 according to the number crunchers.

Remember, there is the safety net of a Nations League play-off place should Scotland fail to make it through this group.

Topping a section with Israel and Albania last year means a semi-final place potentially awaits after the current campaign is complete in 12 months' time (at home against Finland, most likely).

Let's have a bit of confidence and park all of that chat for a while...

Billy Dodds
Former Scotland striker on Sportsound

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland at the Astana Arena

With temperatures as low as -19C earlier this week the travelling Tartan Army will be pleased to know that its a balmy 12C inside the stadium, with the roof closed.

This morning around 20 Scotland fans visited a local school where they specialise with children with Autism and handed over cheques totalling £10,000 and they were entertained with music and dances from those within the school.

The main event though is the opening Euro 2020 qualifier and the emphasis has to be on a fast start.

James Forrest and Oli Burke will have the pace down the flanks to trouble the home side and no doubt Callum McGregor will be looking for a big performance on his first outing as captain.

It's a first competitive match for new Kazakhstan coach Michal Bilek, who has experience of managing his native Czech Republic and can count victory over Scotland back in 2010.

Image source, SNS

So who is Liam Palmer? That's the question many Scotland fans will be asking as the Sheffield Wednesday man prepares to make his full international debut.

I say "full", because the man born in Worksop, England, but qualifies thanks to a Scottish granny, is actually no stranger to the international scene, having played at under-19 and under-21 levels.

However, it has taken him until the grand old age of 27 to be called up to the senior squad and now win his first cap

Palmer has spent his whole career with Wednesday, making more than 200 appearances, 32 of them this season for the side sitting 10th in England's Championship.

Indeed, he often introduces himself as not being the son of former Wednesday midfielder Carlton Palmer!

Image source, SNS

Neil McCann
Former Scotland winger on BBC Sportsound

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If your first thought after looking at today's Scotland starting XI was 'that's a very young squad' then you're not wrong.

The average age of today's starting team is just 24.5. For comparison, in Scotland's last qualifying game under Gordon Strachan (away to Slovenia) the average age was 27.8.

A changing of the guard under Alex McLeish?

Kazakhstan are without injured Yuriy Logvinenko and Bauyrzhan Islamkhan.

Experienced Astana centre-back Logvinenko is one cap away from a half-century and Kairat midfielder Islamkhan will be remembered by Scottish fans for a thunderous long-range strike against Aberdeen in 2015.

Scotland will need to keep a close eye on number 23, the former AC Milan and Watford midfielder Alexander Merkel, currently with Eredivisie club Heracles Almelo.

The Astana Arena is going to need a name change...

That's because Kazakhstan has just renamed its capital Astana to Nursultan to honour outgoing leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who unexpectedly resigned on Tuesday.

The change was announced after Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was sworn in as president, promising to seek his predecessor's opinion on key decisions.

Mr Nazarbayev, 78, served nearly 30 years as leader of the oil-rich nation.

At yesterday's media conference, Scotland boss Alex McLeish spoke of "familiarity", "continuity" and "momentum" but his second reign has, so far, been a story of chopping and changing.

There are six absentees from the team that started the November victories against Albania and Israel as Scotland won their Nations League group.

Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor has retired from international football, Cardiff City right-back Callum Paterson and Bournemouth winger Ryan Fraser are both ruled out because of the artificial surface, while Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher and Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie are injured and captain Andrew Robertson was left behind to have a mouth abscess seen to.

Alex McLeish has gone for a bold looking line-up, with very attacking options in midfield and up front.

As expected, Graeme Shinnie slots in at left-back to make up for the injuries to Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney, while Sheffield Wednesday's Liam Palmer makes his international debut at right-back.

Oli McBurnie leads the attack despite missing Swansea's last three games through illness.

Image source, BBC Sport