Greece vs England tips and predictions: England to gain revenge for October Wembley defeat

By Andrew Beasley 

Greece state of play

Greek football is on the up. The national team rose to 42nd in the world in the latest FIFA rankings, their highest position for six years. 

This was thanks in no small part to beating England 2-1 at Wembley last month. The Greeks have won all four of their matches in the current Nations League group, with Jude Bellingham’s goal for the Three Lions the only one they have conceded. 

Greece’s form is good beyond that match too. Manager Ivan Jovanović has overseen four wins out of four, since taking over in August, with the team having suffered just one defeat (in 90 minutes) in their last 10 games. 

England state of play

England are in a strange purgatory, with Thomas Tuchel confirmed as the new manager but not taking up the role until January 2025. The Three Lions will need to win here to have a chance of gaining a promotion to the top tier of the Nations League.

While they will obviously want a victory, interim manager Lee Carsley’s side may be a little experimental. Eight of his initial 26-man squad pulled out, with five players called up to partially replace them. The roster includes Lewis Hall, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Curtis Jones and Morgan Rogers, none of whom have played senior international football. 

Having got his tactics and selection spectacularly wrong in the defeat to Greece, it will be fascinating to see how Carsley approaches this fixture. 

Key talking point: Is Harry Kane the right forward for England now? 

Harry Kane is the Three Lions’ record scorer. He has scored 11 goals and six assists in 10 Bundesliga games so far this season. The former Tottenham talisman made 56 goal contributions in 45 games under forthcoming England manager Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich. 

Despite all this positivity, it’s not unreasonable to ask if it’s time for a change, at least for some of the time.

Kane has started 11 England games in 2024. He has scored four non-penalty goals in those matches, finding the net against Denmark, Slovakia and Finland (twice). The 31-year-old also scored from the bench against Bosnia-Herzegovina, though that doesn’t arrest the trend of mostly scoring against weaker teams.

England attacked very poorly for much of their Euro 2024 campaign with the captain’s relative lack of mobility factoring into that. As they build towards the 2026 World Cup, any slight fitness issues he gets could become even more problematic. 

Kane will probably score here. While Greece are improving, he tends to do well against teams below the elite tier. England will need to overcome far better sides to become world champions though. But is now the time to give someone else more of an opportunity up front?

FIRST’s top tip for Greece vs England - England to win and Both Teams to Score (293/100 with Mr.Play)

England should still have the quality to win this match. However, with only three clean sheets in their last 10 matches and the likes of John Stones absent, Greece can get on the score sheet. 

Extra tips

Harry Kane to Score at 29/20 with Betgrouse

Kane has scored in eight of the last 12 away games he has started for England.

Greece to Score Over 1.5 Goals at 78/25 with Betgrouse

This is more of a long shot, but Greece have scored two or more in eight of their last 10 games. They created plenty of good chances against England on their last time out too. 

Team news

Forward, Fotis Ioannidis scored three goals in the September international break to be the top scorer in this group. Having missed the last window through injury, he will likely be back in the starting XI here. 

Carsley opted for a 4-4-2 formation packed with attacking talent for the reverse fixture. It did not work at all. England returned to a 4-2-3-1 for their win at Finland in the next match and will surely stick with that system here. 

Greece vs England predicted line-ups

Greece: Vlachodimos; Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas; Kourbelis, Siopis; Masouras, Bakasetas, Tzolis; Ioannidis (4-2-3-1)

England: Pickford; Walker, Konsa, Guehi, Lewis; Gallagher, Gomes; Bowen, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane (4-2-3-1)

Odds correct at the time of writing.