Ahead of Thursday’s penultimate UEFA Nations League clash in Athens, we have the Greece vs England preview, prediction, latest team news and predicted lineups.
Greece Vs England Preview
Greece
After their historical victory at Wembley in October, Greece will be looking to claim another famous win over England at the Athens Olympic Stadium on Thursday night.
Vangelis Pavlidis was the star as he hit a double to down the Three Lions, including a 94th-minute winner. That brace was his first two international goals of the calendar year.
Since boss Ivan Jovanovic took the job in August, Greece have a 100% win record in the current UEFA Nations League campaign. Furthermore, they have conceded just once in those quartet of games.
The Blue and Whites beat Ireland home and away 2-0. Jovanovic’s side also cruised past Finland 3-0 which has left them on the brink of promotion to League A.
Interestingly, the Greeks have never lost a home game since the Nation League came to fruition in September 2018. They have won 9 of their 11 fixtures.
An important week starts now! 🚦 pic.twitter.com/rFcaRka8hZ
— England (@England) November 11, 2024
England
From England’s perspective, they have had to endure a number of injuries in the build up to Thursday. A total of nine stars have already withdrawn from Lee Carsley’s final squad.
Nonetheless, the Three Lions will want to go out with a bang before Thomas Tuchel takes over in the new year. Ironically, this will be the first game since the German was announced as Gareth Southgate’s successor.
Carsley’s tactics in the reverse fixture badly backfired as he set his stall out with no recognised striker. The interim boss will be naive to make the same mistake in Athens.
However, a comfortable 3-1 victory in Finland got Carsley’s side back on track going into this week’s clash. Jack Grealish, Declan Rice and a stunning Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick secured the points in Helsinki.
Carsley has every right to be confident going into the fixture as England have won on all their previous visits to Greece. The best football betting sites price the Three Lions at 16/1 to win 3-1.
Greece Vs England Team News
Midfielder Dimitrios Kourbelis misses out for Greece as he serves a one-match ban. Cardiff City star Manolis Siopis is being tipped to replace the Al-Khaleej man.
Other Premier League stars who are set to feature include Newcastle’s Odysseas Vlachodimos, Liverpool full-back Kostas Tsimikas and West Ham centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Wembley hero Vangelis Pavlidis isn’t guaranteed a place in the starting XI owing to the return of Fotis Ioannidis. However, the Panathiniakos striker could be benched after his recent injury problems which ruled him out at Wembley.
With England looking to avenge their Greek tragedy, they will need to make do without a number of first-team stars. The likes of Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden are all ruled out.
The same applies for goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jack Grealish, Declan Rice, Jarrad Branthwaite and Levi Colwill. However, reinforcements have been added.
Aston Villa starlet Morgan Rogers will be looking to make his senior bow. So to will Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento and Curtis Jones.
Greece Vs England Predicted Lineups
Greece (4-2-3-1): Vlachodimos; Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas; Siopis, Mantalos; Masouras, Bakasetas, Tzolis; Pavlidis
England (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Walker, Konsa, Guehi, Lewis; Gomes, Gallagher; Madueke, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane
Greece Vs England Prediction
Here at SportsCasting, we expect England to be a lot more ruthless than last month’s showing at Wembley. Even with a number of key absentees.
This will give young stars and fringe players a vital chance to impress and we expect them to do just that. Although the Greeks will be brimming with confidence, the Three Lions should have too much about them for another upset.
Prediction: Greece 1-3 England
