Greece will welcome Finland to the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus on Saturday in the first matchday of the new UEFA Nations League campaign.
This will be the hosts' first match in League B, after finally winning promotion from the third tier in the last edition of the tournament in 2022.
Latest Greece vs Finland team information
Konstantinos Tzolakis could replace Odysseas Vlachodimos as Greece's number one goalkeeper, with Vlachodimos yet to make an appearance for Newcastle United since his summer move from Nottingham Forest.
Midfielder Dimitris Kourbelis was left out of the squad after moving to Saudi Arabia at the end of the summer transfer window, but Vangelis Pavlidis' move to Benfica could have the opposite effect and lead to his big break after several successful seasons at AZ Alkmaar.
Right-back George Baldock is again left out, along with Panagiotis Retsos and Giorgos Kyriakopoulos - two of the back four who started their previous game against Malta.
Finland will be without Daniel Hakans for this international break, and the Lech Poznan striker will be a big miss, having scored four goals in seven official appearances with the national team, all in recent Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Middlesbrough striker Marcus Forss has been on a long-term recovery since March, so experienced Teemu Pukki is expected to start up front for his 123rd appearance.
Robert Taylor declined to be called up for both the March and June squads, preferring to represent Inter Miami, but the midfielder has now been overlooked while his club are not in action this weekend.
Latest expected lineup Greece vs Finland
Greece:
Tzolakis; Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas; Mantalos, Pelkas, Bakasetas; Masouras, Pavlidis, Tzolis
Finland:
Hradecky; Alho, Tenho, Ivanov, Uronen; Kamara, Schuller; Lod, Pohjanpalo, Antman; Pukki
Latest football commentary Greece vs Finland
A new cycle begins for Greece after another major disappointment in qualifying for Euro 2024, when they were beaten in the play-offs by Georgia, who had never qualified for a major tournament before.
New coach Ivan Jovanovic has replaced Gus Poyet in the hope of ending a run of failures in qualifying that stretches back to 2014.
The decline of the Greek team is illustrated by the fact that this is the first time they have entered the second tier since the Nations League was formed, needing three tries to escape League C.
In 2018, Greece finished below Finland and Hungary, then fell behind Slovenia in 2020, before finally topping a group containing Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Cyprus last time out.
The current state of the Greek national team is reminiscent of the early 2000s, when Otto Rehhagel took over a team in crisis in 2001 and turned them into European champions three years later.
While a repeat of that success seems almost impossible, Olympiacos' success in the Conference League should help to reinvigorate football in the country, and the national team should take inspiration from that, with several members from the club currently in the squad.
With England also in this group, it makes it difficult for other teams to get promoted, if the Three Lions play more seriously than last time.
After finishing above Greece in 2018 to earn promotion to League B, Finland have held firm at this level, exceeding expectations, and that could be their goal again.
Markku Kanerva's side had secured a Euro 2024 play-off spot thanks to their performances in the Nations League earlier, but that dream was quickly extinguished with a 4-1 defeat in Cardiff to Wales, missing out on back-to-back Euros.
Despite that setback, the visitors have won seven of their last 13 competitive away games, keeping five clean sheets, but their game plan was anything but pragmatic in June, with a 4-2 defeat to Portugal followed by a 2-2 draw with Scotland. Both nations have developed a reputation for defensive play in recent years, but Finland’s results so far in 2024 suggest otherwise and Greece are now under new management.
The national team's fan presence has not been kind to Greece recently, with fewer than 200 people watching them beat New Zealand last November, so the famously raucous atmosphere may not be present to the hosts' advantage in Jovanovic's first game in charge.
Score prediction Greece vs Finland
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the following results for the Greece vs Finland match:
- Sportsmole: Greece 1-1 Finland
- WhoScore: Greece 0-0 Finland
- Our prediction: Greece 1-1 Finland
When and where to watch Greece vs Finland live?
To watch live the Greece vs Finland match in the Nations League taking place at 1:45 a.m. on September 8, viewers can watch on TV360 here, Mytv system here or on online sports channels. Wishing viewers happy moments of watching football.
Source: https://baodaknong.vn/nhan-dinh-du-doan-hy-lap-vs-phan-lan-bat-phan-thang-bai-228515.html
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