MX23RW : Saturday, October 12 20:49:38| >> :120:54309:54309:
[monks data]
Greece national football team
Nations League | League B
Sep 7, 2024 at 7.45pm UK
Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki
Finland national football team

Greece
3 - 0
Finland

Ioannidis (23', 76'), Kallman (37' og.)
Koulierakis (51'), Konstantelias (67'), Zafeiris (90+3')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Kallman (25'), Peltola (90+4')

Preview: Greece vs. Finland - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Nations League clash between Greece and Finland, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Greece welcome Finland to the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus on Saturday on matchday one of the new UEFA Nations League campaign.

This will be the host's first-ever match in League B, after finally winning promotion from the third tier in its last iteration in 2022.


Match preview

Greece's Tasos Bakasetas celebrates on March 21, 2024© Imago

A new cycle begins for Greece after yet another huge disappointment in Euro 2024 qualifying, where they were beaten by a Georgia side who had never reached a major tournament before in the playoffs.

New manager Ivan Jovanovic has replaced Gus Poyet looking to end their string of failed qualifications which dates back to 2014.

Their fall from grace is illustrated by this being the first time they have competed in the second tier since the inception of the Nations League, needing three attempts to get out of League C.

In 2018, the Greeks finished below Finland and Hungary, then missed out behind Slovenia in 2020, before finally topping a section including Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Cyprus last time around.

There are shades of the early 2000s with the current state of the Greek national side, just as Otto Rehhagel took over a complete mess in 2001 and made them European champions three years later.

While any repeat of that appears near-impossible, Olympiacos' success in the Conference League should rejuvenate football in the country, and the national side need to take inspiration, with a few members from the club in the setup currently.

Finland's Oliver Antman celebrates on June 7, 2024© Imago

With England also being drawn in this group, it leaves the others with little chance of promotion, should the Three Lions take it more seriously than the last edition.

After finishing above Greece in 2018 to win promotion to League B, Finland have remained at this level, slightly punching above their weight, and that could well be their aim again.

Markku Kanerva's side earned a Euro 2024 playoff place thanks to their performance in the previous Nations League, but the dream was quickly dashed with a 4-1 thrashing in Cardiff against Wales, missing the opportunity to reach back-to-back Euros.

Despite that defeat though, the visitors have won seven of their last 13 away competitive games, keeping five clean sheets in the process, but their gameplan was anything but pragmatic in June, as a 4-2 defeat in Portugal was followed up by a 2-2 draw away to Scotland.

Greece form (all competitions):


Finland form (all competitions):



Team News

Greece's Odysseas Vlachodimos reacts on June 7, 2024 [IMAGO]© Imago

Konstantinos Tzolakis could be set to take over from Odysseas Vlachodimos as Greece's number one, with the latter not getting a look-in at Newcastle United since his summer switch from Nottingham Forest.

Midfielder Dimitris Kourbelis has been dropped from the squad after making a move to Saudi Arabia late in the summer transfer window, but Vangelis Pavlidis's transfer to Benfica could have the opposite effect and lead to his big breakout after many successful seasons at AZ Alkmaar.

Right-back George Baldock has been left out once again, along with Panagiotis Retsos and Giorgos Kyriakopoulos - two of the back four that started their previous game against Malta.

Finland will be without Daniel Hakans for this international break, and the Lech Poznan attacker will be a big miss, having scored four goals in his seven competitive appearances with the national side, all coming in the recent Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Middlesbrough striker Marcus Forss is still on the long road to recovery having been out since March, so the vastly experienced Teemu Pukki is set to start up front to make his 123rd cap.

Robert Taylor refused to accept a call up for both the March and June squads, prioritising representing his club Inter Miami instead, but the midfielder has now been snubbed while his club does not play this weekend.

Greece possible starting lineup:
Tzolakis; Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas; Mantalos, Pelkas, Bakasetas; Masouras, Pavlidis, Tzolis

Finland possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Alho, Tenho, Ivanov, Uronen; Kamara, Schuller; Lod, Pohjanpalo, Antman; Pukki


SM words green background

We say: Greece 1-1 Finland

Both nations had garnered reputations of being quite defensively-minded in recent years, but Finland's results so far in 2024 suggest otherwise and Greece are now under new management.

National team attendances have not been fantastic for Greece of late, as less than 200 saw them beat New Zealand last November, so the notorious rapturous atmosphere may not be present to give the hosts an advantage in Jovanovic's first game in charge.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.




ID:552211:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect10884:

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Game History

How you voted: Greece vs Finland

Greece
66.1%
Draw
22.9%
Finland
11.0%
118
Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Fernando Torres in action for Spain on June 1, 2012
Read Next:
Greatest European Championship finals of all time
>
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free daily transfer newsletter! Sent twice a day during the transfer window.
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

League A1

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Portugal Portugal33009
2 Croatia Croatia32016
3 Poland Poland31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30030

League A2

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Italy Italy32107
2 France France32016
3 Belgium Belgium31114
4 Israel Israel30030

League A3

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Germany Germany32107
2 Netherlands Netherlands31205
3 Hungary Hungary30212
4 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina30121

League A4

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Spain Spain32107
2 Denmark Denmark32016
3 Serbia Serbia31114
4 Switzerland Switzerland30030

League B1

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Georgia Georgia32016
2 Czech Republic Czech Republic32016
3 Albania national flag Albania31023
4 Ukraine Ukraine31023

League B2

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Greece Greece33009
2 England flag England32016
3 Ireland Rep. Ireland31023
4 Finland Finland30030

League B3

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Norway Norway32107
2 Austria Austria31114
3 Slovenia Slovenia31114
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan30121

League B4

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Turkey Turkey32107
2 Wales flag Wales31205
3 Iceland Iceland31114
4 Montenegro Montenegro30030

League C1

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Sweden Sweden32107
2 Slovakia Slovakia32107
3 Estonia Estonia31023
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan30030

League C2

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Romania Romania33009
2 Kosovo flag Kosovo32016
3 Cyprus Cyprus31023
4 Lithuania Lithuania30030

League C3

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Belarus Belarus31205
2 Bulgaria Bulgaria31205
3 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland31114
4 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg30121

League C4

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Macedonia N. Macedonia32107
2 Armenia Armenia31114
3 Latvia Latvia31023
4 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands30212

League D1

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar21104
2 San Marino flag San Marino21013
3 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein20111

League D2

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Republic of Moldova Moldova22006
2 Malta flag Malta21013
3 Andorra flag Andorra20020


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!