By Karl Matchett
Historical past lesson
Historical past closely favoured the Three Lions in outcomes and in storylines; even once they didn’t win, they nonetheless did in impact, comparable to with David Beckham’s damage time equaliser to ship England to the World Cup. Even in club-level conferences essentially the most memorable events are likely to see the Premier League outfits beat the Tremendous League ones: Liverpool thrashing Panathinaikos within the ‘85 European Cup semi-final; Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester United all knocking out Olympiacos on the identical stage within the area of a decade; Liverpool and their notorious late comeback to beat the identical Greek aspect within the group stage, en path to profitable the Champions League. It was all so closely one sided – till it wasn’t, a month in the past, with Greece triumphing at Wembley with a poignant celebration of their efforts and the reminiscence of George Baldock. The Nations League may not have the identical standing as a few of these different video games, however for Greece it was an evening to rival most of their historical past; for England, classes should be realized.
Type
These Nations League video games are the final underneath Lee Carsley earlier than Thomas Tuchel takes cost for England, so whereas type isn’t of a lot significance, impressing for locations is – and so they need promotion again to League A in fact. Which means there’s no selection however to win this sport to attempt to prime the desk, with second spot solely providing a playoff. If Greece even draw, they’re up.
Who’s left within the England squad?
England suffered eight damage withdrawals from the preliminary squad, essentially the most notable of which had been Trent Alexander-Arnold – man of the match 3 times in 4 video games for Carsley – together with Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice. There can be first caps on supply throughout the fortnight, however whether or not any come on this sport will rely largely on the kind of midfield the interim boss needs. Greece will doubtless look similar to throughout their Wembley win, with all 11 starters from October included on this squad – although the likes of Kostas Tsimikas and Fotis Ioannidis could hope to return in.
Key gamers
For the hosts, Vangelis Pavlidis scored each targets at Wembley and is an apparent standout for inspection – at Benfica he’s really extra facilitator than scorer, with 2.1 possibilities created per 90 this time period being higher than some other related ahead within the Primeira.
As for England, accidents make a lineup powerful to foretell however Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon look good shouts to begin on the flanks and want to supply large video games to enhance their possibilities of nudging forward of Saka, Phil Foden and the like. The Chelsea man’s non-penalty xG of 0.33/90 places him forward of 82% of comparable gamers this time period and three.67 pictures/90 is forward of 93%. That’s a pleasant stability to Gordon’s crossing and creativity from the left.
Prediction
England to be considerably extra stable and disciplined than final time these sides met, sufficient to earn a win in a low-scoring sport. 2-1 to the Three Lions.
(Cowl picture from IMAGO)
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