England are in need of three points when they take on Greece in their penultimate 2024/25 Nations League group fixture on Thursday night.
A 3-1 victory over Finland last time out means the Three Lions are still in contention for top spot in their League B group having succumbed to their first-ever defeat to the Greeks on 10 October.
It seemed as if Jude Bellingham had snatched a point for Lee Carsley’s side in the closing minutes of normal time, but Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis then scored his second of the game to ensure Greece claimed a historic and deserved victory at Wembley.
England will move back into League A of the Nations League should they top their group, while a second-place finish will see them advance into the play-offs next March. The Euro 2024 finalists are currently three points adrift of the Euro 2004 winners in Group B2, so England are going to have to be perfect this month to stand a chance of automaticalling progressing up to League A.
Thursday’s hosts have secured maximum points so far and will conclude their Nations League campaign in Helsinki on Sunday.
The hero from October’s historic victory, Pavlidis, is in contention to lead Greece’s line again on Thursday, although the Benfica striker does have Fotis Ioannidis to compete against. Ioannidis started the Nations League campaign in fine form but missed his country’s outings last month due to an injury.
Premier League stars Kostas Tsimikas and Konstantinos Mavropanos are poised to start in the hosts’ backline, while Newcastle United’s Odysseas Vlachodimos remains Greece’s number one despite barely featuring for the Magpies since joining in the summer.
There’s been a mass exodus from Carsley’s final England squad, with as many as eight players pulling out of international duty this month. Carsley will not be able to call upon Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jack Grealish and Levi Colwill despite initially including them in his 26-man squad.
Five players have been introduced as replacements: Jarrad Branthwaite, Tino Livramento, Jarrod Bowen, James Trafford and Morgan Rogers.
Record goalscorer Harry Kane is available to lead the line after missing the reverse fixture in October, while Bellingham will start in the middle of the park having scored his first Real Madrid goal of the season against Osasuna at the weekend.
