It’s Nations League time on the horizon once again! But before you jump ship to take a closer look at the odds available at bet365 Sport for the games on Matchday 3, let’s take a look at the England squad selected for that set of fixtures.
Carsley Names England Squad
England caretaker manager Lee Carsley has surprised many with his latest England squad announcement for the Three Lions. With Nations League games coming up against Greece (at Wembley) and Finland (in Helsinki), the current caretaker manager has left a number of big name stars out of the squad.
In what he described as a great opportunity to take a look at some other players knocking on the door of the squad, Carsley omitted Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), James Maddison (Tottenham), and Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire (both Manchester United).
Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Kyle Walker (Man City) return to the squad after missing the last set of games through injury.
Carsley has once again called up midfield duo Angel Gomes and Morgan Gibbs-White, who both had solid debuts for England in the last set of games. Also called into the squad is Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke, who is selected for the first time since making his debut vs Brazil back in 2019.
Overlooked for the England squad this time were Aston Villa striker Morgan Rogers, who instead will play for the U21’s, despite his excellent early season form for Aston Villa. A decision which made Villa boss Unai Emery angry.
England Squad
For Nations League games vs Greece (H) and Finland (A) on Matchdays 3 & 4.
Goalkeepers
- Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest)
- Jordan Pickford (Everton)
- Nick Pope (Newcastle United)
Defenders
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
- Levi Colwill (Chelsea)
- Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace)
- Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa)
- Rico Lewis (Manchester City)
- John Stones (Manchester City)
- Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders
- Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
- Declan Rice (Arsenal)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City)
- Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid)
- Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest)
- Angel Gomes (Lille)
- Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United)
- Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Attackers
- Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United)
- Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
- Noni Madueke (Chelsea)
- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
- Dominic Solanke (Tottenham)
- Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
England currently are second in their Nations League Group B2, level on maximum points with Greece, who they face in their first game at Wembley on Matchday 3. However, the Three Lions have a one-worse goal difference compared to Greece.
The other teams in Group B2 are Ireland and Finland and both are winless after two games.
England’s Record vs Greece
England’s first game in the forthcoming Nations League is against Greece, a team that they have not lost to in nine previous matches. Winning seven and drawing two.
In fact, in those nine matches, Greece have scored just three goals against England in total.
The most famous match between the two was the 2001 World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford, which Sven Goran Eriksson’s England scraped a 2-2 draw, and qualification for the World Cup, thanks to David Beckham’s last gasp free kick.
The teams last met in August 2006, with England winning 4-0 at home. All the goals came in the first half of that game at Old Trafford, with John Terry, Frank Lampard and a brace from Peter Crouch giving England an easy win.
England’s Record vs Finland
The second match in the Nations League will be Matchday 4’s encounter away to Finland. The teams met last month with England coming out as 2-0 winners in a tight game where it took two good finishes from Harry Kane to give England the win.
In total England have played the Finnish side 12 times, winning ten matches and drawing two.
Finland have drawn two of the last three fixtures that they have played against England on home soil. A 1-1 draw in a FIFA World Cup qualifier back in May 1985 and a 0-0 draw in another World Cup qualifier back in October 2000.
England’s biggest win over Finland came away from home in the very first fixture between the two teams, which England won 8-0 in May 1937.
