UEFA Nations League: No Greek Tragedy Due for Carsley’s Lions

England vs Greece

Interim England manager Lee Carsley is aiming to make it three wins from three on Thursday when UEFA Nations League: England vs Greece is the action on offer at Wembley Stadium.

The hosts have beaten both Finland and the Republic of Ireland 2-0 while Greece have gone one better, beating both these opponents also, but Finland by 3-0, and that sits them at the top of League B Group 2 on goal difference.  

The visitors’ manager Ivan Jovanovic has a bit of a headache though as his star striker looks unlikely to be fit to face the Three Lions, but then all is not hunky dory in the home camp. The hosts have a wealth of talent though and a very deep squad and the England vs Greece betting odds say Carsley will get his wish with the Three Lions priced at 1.25 to beat the Greeks.   

Talking Points

England sweat on Kane 

He hasn’t been blessed with a clear run of fitness in recent times and, at 31 years of age the England skipper, talisman and top scorer Harry Kane can expect some aches and pains. But Three Lions fans will have winced when they watched the centre forward limp off during FC Bayern’s 3-3 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend. He came off worse in a challenge and was left rolling on the turf in agony; but the nature of his injury was unsure. It looked like Kane had taken a whack on the ankle but Physios were massaging his leg and groin area.

If he doesn’t make it, the former Tottenham man will be gutted after he celebrated his 100^th cap with two goals against Finland, but Carsley needs to find a replacement for Kane at some time in the not too far distant future. Olllie Watkins is the obvious choice for me, the Aston Villa man has scored four goals in 15 appearances for England, some from the bench, and he has shown real quality when given the chance. Watkins has more pace than Kane though he is not quite as prolific, scoring 63 goals in 153 games for the Villains. Spurs’ summer signing Dominic Solanke could be in line to make his second appearance for the Three Lions having made his debut back in 2017, and he would be a more like-for-like replacement for Kane.

Chelsea’s Cole Palmer is one of the players I’m looking forward to seeing. Carsley worked with the Chelsea man at England U21 level and he knows how versatile the 22-year-old can be. With six goals and four assists already this season, Palmer is the player in form and if he sits in behind the striker, whoever that may be, with Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon on the flanks, Greece defenders are in for a scary night.  

Ioannidis blow for Greece

While England fans are sweating on the fitness of Kane, it looks like Greece’s star striker will be missing for this clash. Fotis Ioannidis started for Panathinaikos in the ‘Derby of Eternal Enemies’ against Olympiacos at the weekend; but the 24-year-old didn’t finish the game, limping off a minute before the half time break.         

He scored a brace in a 3-0 win over Finland and then added another in Greece’s 2-0 victory away to the Republic of Ireland and Ioannidis will be a huge loss to Greece if he is missing, which seems highly likely. He is expected to complete a scan on Monday but initial fears are that he may have suffered a fracture, which would keep him out for a few weeks, starting with the Thursday date at Wembley.     

Should the diagnosis on Ioannidis be as expected then Benfica’s 25-year-old striker Vangelis Pavlidis will likely be the man to step in.  

History

The head to head England vs Greece results hold no surprises with four wins for the Three Lions and one draw from the five previous meetings, though the last time the two nations met was way back in 2006, when England won 4-0.

With five wins and one defeat from the last six games the hosts are in slightly better shape than their visitors who have won four and lost two. 

Betting Tip

After losing the Euro 2024 final to Spain and suffering relegation in the Nations League this is a period of reset for England, albeit with a hugely talented and relatively settled young squad. I expect them to have far too much for their depleted visitors on Thursday, with the draw at SBOTOP odds of 4.59 and an away win at 7.62.

For an alternative bet another 2-0 win for England is priced at 5.22. But I’m going big on a minimum two goal home win at any score-line.  

 

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