AFTER a competent, solid-ish win against Ireland, England return to Wembley to face Finland, in a match which should mark Harry Kane’s 100th appearance for the Three Lions.
Lee Carsley’s tenure got off to the perfect start, while their Scandinavian rivals succumbed to a 3-0 thumping by Greece, leaving them rock bottom of Group 2, and confidence will be running high. However, it must be remembered that England have not won a Nations League game at home since November 2020, failing to score in two of their three fixtures since then!
Cometh the hour, cometh the man? Only two players have scored in their 100th game for the Three Lions, with Rooney doing so versus Slovenia (2014) and Bobby Charlton netting versus Northern Ireland in April 1970. Would you back against Kane repeating the feat?
Meanwhile, The Republic of Ireland face an in-form Greece side who are flying at the moment. The Boys in Green are yet to beat the Hellenes in five previous attempts (D1 L4). Can they end their drought and get a famous victory? Time will tell…
This is where the guys at Opta come in. We’ve delved into their incredible database of match facts and stats, and using their AI-driven predictive analysis, we’ve come up with our best bets for what could be an incredible UEFA Nations League.
Of course, it’s not an exact science, it’s a funny old game…
ENGLAND vs FINLAND
Harry Kane is set to play his 100th match for the Three Lions, and become just the 10th player in England’s history to become a centurion. He sits just one hat-trick behind Jimmy Greaves in England’s all time list…
● England are unbeaten in all 11 of their previous meetings with Finland (W9 D2)
● Finland lost 0-3 against Greece in their previous outing, marking the second consecutive competitive match that they’ve lost by 3+ goals
● Finland have only scored seven goals in 11 previous encounters with England and never more than once in a single game
REPUBLIC of IRELAND vs GREECE
Ireland have never beaten Greece in five previous attempts (D1 L4), the only European nation the Boys in Green have come up against more than twice without ever tasting victory
● Greece have won all three of their previous away games against the Republic of Ireland without conceding
● No Republic of Ireland player has been directly involved in more goals than Robbie Brady (one goal, two assists) in the Nations League
● Fotis Ioannidis scored twice last time out, with four goals in his last five Internationals
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