Greece vs. England: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

This is a tough game to call because England will be heavily depleted and the Ireland game aside, they haven't looked all that convincing. However, they looked a lot more functional against Finland with a much more balanced starting XI, so this time around they should have enough to see off the Greeks - even if they're not at their best.

England have kept a clean sheet in two of their last four games and are unbeaten in their last seven games away from home, so in a game that might not be too eventful, we fancy Lee Carsley's side to exact revenge over their Balkan counterparts. Greece 0-2 England.

Lee Carsley takes charge of the England senior national team for the penultimate time this week as the Three Lions lock horns with Greece in the UEFA Nations League.

• Date: 14/11/2024
• Kick-off time: 19:45
• Location: Olympic Stadium, Athens

Greece are currently top of UEFA Nations League B, Group 2, with twelve points from four games. Following their heartbreak in Euro 2024 qualifying, Greece have been flying under new manager Ivan Jovanović and are arguably the surprise package in international football at present, at least in Europe.

Greece were beaten in the playoff final for Euro 2024 against a ten-man Georgia side despite being heavily fancied to qualify, a result that left many fans exhausted and disillusioned after a ten-year absence from major international tournaments.

However, Greece have been rebuilding the connection between the national team and its fan base during this Nations League campaign and look completely revamped outfit under the guidance of the Serbian.

In beating England at Wembley last month, Greece claimed arguably their most significant result of the last decade and their fans will be praying that it's a signifier of the team's likelihood to qualify for one of the next two major competitions: the 2026 World Cup and Euro 2028.

Greek football is currently in a good place with Olympiakos having won the Europa Conference League last season, while the Greek Super League is starting to attract a higher level of talent once again and there are one or two very promising Greek players emerging through the youth system.

Greek football has been down in the dumps for a long time now and there is a strong hope that this resurgence is much deeper than a temporary run of good form, and what is going on is a deeper, more sustainable change in the national team's processes.

If they can finish top of this group it would be one hell of an achievement, but they likely need a result against England here to make that happen.

England are currently 2nd in UEFA Nations League B, Group 2, with nine points from four games. The Three Lions enter this game in a state of purgatory, with interim boss Lee Carsley taking charge of his final two games as caretaker manager as the nation awaits Thomas Tuchel's eventual arrival on the scene.

Tuchel will officially take the reigns in January 2025 so there are some challenges in the preparations for this camp, particularly with a soon-to-be departing manager picking a squad that does not necessarily align with the incoming manager's vision for the team heading into the World Cup, while Carsley will also struggle to maintain a sense of authority over the players with his departure so publicly imminent.

England's last two performances were hardly convincing so it's going to take quite a big jump from the players to deliver the kind of performance the fan base demands from them, and with Carsley out of the door at the end of the week it feels hard to imagine he'll be able to extract that from them here.

If England fail to win either of the two games in this camp then it's highly likely that they'll finish second in this Nations League group and as a result, they'll have to contest a playoff for promotion back to League A.

For as much as the Nations League matters, this is an important game for England, but it would be far, far more important and significantly more valuable if Thomas Tuchel were taking the reigns for his debut as manager.

This game will be televised live to all UK viewers on ITV1 and on the ITVX website and app.

Greece Team News:

Greece welcome back Panathinaikos striker Fotis Ioannidis after he missed the last camp through injury, while Kostas Tsimikas has also made his return following a spell on the sidelines.

Tsimikas should come straight back into the starting lineup, but otherwise, Greece will likely line up just as they did at Wembley last month.

Predicted lineup: Vlachodimos; Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas; Kourbelis, Siopis; Masouras, Bakasetas, Tzolis; Pavlidis.

England Team News:

England are heading into this game amidst an injury crisis and look set to be diminished by a number of pullouts, with Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jack Grealish, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Levi Colwill and Aaron Ramsdale having all dropped out amidst various injury concerns.

Jarrod Bowen, Jarrad Branthwaite, Tino Livramento and James Trafford have all been called up as replacements, but none feel likely to start.

Kyle Walker reportedly has some fitness issues so he might not start on Thursday, which leaves Rico Lewis likely to keep his place in the back four.

Predicted lineup: Pickford; Lewis, Guéhi, Konsa, Hall; Gallagher, Gomes, Bellingham; Madueke, Kane, Gordon.

Greece's latest game was a fairly comfortable 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland. The Irish made Greece huff and puff to break the deadlock, but shortly after half-time Anastasios Bakasetas broke the deadlock before Petros Mantalos sealed the three points in stoppage time.

That result followed a 2-1 win over England at Wembley where a Vangelis Pavlidis brace saw off the Three Lions, a result that followed another 2-0 win over Ireland, a 3-0 win over Finland and a 2-0 win over Malta.

England's most recent outing was a 3-1 win away at Finland were Jack Grealish, Declan Rice and Trent Alexander-Arnold's goals saw off the Fins in what was a pretty mediocre performance following the 2-1 defeat against Greece, where Jude Bellingham's late goal could not prevent a defeat.

Before that, England secured successive 2-0 wins over Finland and Ireland with Declan Rice, Jack Grealish and Harry Kane all getting the goals, a set of results that followed the 2-1 loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

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