England’s Nations League campaign continues on Thursday night as they aim to top Group 2 of League B against their nearest rivals Greece.
The Three Lions got off to an excellent start without manager Gareth Southgate as caretaker boss Lee Carsley led them to two 2-0 wins against the Republic of Ireland and Finland. However, they are second behind the Greeks with a worse goal difference.
Ivan Jovanovic’s side have also won both games, scoring five goals without conceding any, and a couple of Premier League The faces will be seen at Wembley Stadium.
here it is 90 minutes preview of Thursday’s matchup.
England-Greece head-to-head record (last five games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
England |
Greece |
|---|---|
|
England 2-0 Finland – 09/10/24 |
Republic of Ireland – Greece 0-2 – 24/10/09 |
|
Republic of Ireland 0-2 England – 07/09/24 |
Greece 3-0 Finland – 07/09/24 |
|
Spain 2-1 England – 14/07/24 |
Malta 0-2 Greece – 24/11/06 |
|
Netherlands 1-2 England – 24/10/07 |
Germany 2-1 Greece – 06/07/24 |
|
England 1-1 Switzerland (5-3p) – 24/06/07 |
Georgia – Greece 0-0 (4-2p) – 26/03/24 |
|
country |
TV channel/live broadcast |
|---|---|
|
united kingdom |
ITV 1, ITVX, STV, STV Player, UTV |
|
united states |
fuboTV, Foxsports.com, ViX, FOX Sports App, Fox Sports 2 |
|
canada |
DAZN Canada |
Acting boss Carsley has had to deal with a few dropouts, with Ezri Konsa, Kobbie Mainoo and Morgan Gibbs-White now unavailable through injury. To cover these absences, Curtis Jones and Tino Livramento have been added to the roster.
Striker and captain Harry Kane has been training on his own and should be given the night off with Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke ready and waiting in the wings.
Recently voted player of the year Cole Palmer he may get a chance to play the No. 10 role, with Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon coming out.
Predicted England vs Greece Line-up (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Guehi, Colwill; Rice, Bellingham; Saka, Palmer, Gordon; Watkins.
Fotis Ioannidis is Greece’s regular starting striker and has scored three goals in both games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland, but is not expected to feature against England due to an adductor injury.
In his absence, Vangelis Pavlidis, who has scored two Premier League goals for Benfica so far this season, should be the only striker up front.
Predicted line-up of Greece against England (4-2-3-1): Let’s go? Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas; Siopis, Bouchalakis; Pelkas, Bakasetas, Tzolis? Pavlidis.
England’s road back to the A-League has started strongly enough, with Carsley making a decent impression in his first two outings. The recent League of Nations relegation means the standard of opposition is not as high as before, but they will still face a disciplined side in Greece.
The surprise Euro 2004 winners have kept three clean sheets in a row and clearly have enough knowledge to keep opposition attacks at bay, but facing Saka and Palmer is a clear step up from the Maltese forwards.
It should be a relatively easy night’s work for England, although the scoreline could be modest.
