England set for attacking challenge as watertight Greece travel to Wembley | OneFootball

Lee Carsley’s third match as England’s interim head coach looms with Greece visiting Wembley Stadium as the Three Lions eye promotion into the Nations League top tier.

Carsley, who was named as England’s interim head coach following Gareth Southgate’s departure, will look to protect his perfect record with the first team after downing Finland and the Republic of Ireland in September.

As has become tradition in recent months, all eyes will be on Cole Palmer. Chelsea’s star man has picked up where he left off at the end of last season, already adding six goals to his Premier League portfolio, four of which came in one match as Chelsea dispatched Brighton in September.

Newly voted England Men’s Player of the Year by football fans after tallying up 53 goal contributions since the start of last season, he has returned to the England squad with confidence at an all time high.

While he is yet to start for the Three Lions in a competitive fixture, Palmer should be picked for his creative output after Jack Grealish, the preferred number 10 in Carsley’s previous matches, sustained a knock in training.

Making a fairytale return to the England squad is Tottenham’s Dominic Solanke. He finds himself in contention for minutes for the first time since debuting against Brazil in 2017. He is likely to add to the 15 minutes of play time he has already achieved, as his Spurs predecessor Harry Kane looks has issues with a groin injury.

Should he play, Solanke will be faced with a formidable Greek defence including Liverpool full-back Kostas Tsimikas, West Ham centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos, and Newcastle goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos. The three have played every minute of the Nations League season so far without conceding, allowing less than two expected goals between the two matches.

Carsley has also expanded the crop of youngsters he has introduced to the squad. After handing England debuts to Angel Gomes and Noni Madueke in September, he could add Tino Livramento and Curtis Jones to his list of debutants after the pair were called up as injury cover on Wednesday after Kobbie Mainoo, Ezri Konsa, and Morgan Gibbs-White left the camp.

Both England and Greece are currently undefeated in the Nations League, but it is Greece who sit top of the group on goal difference, scoring five goals to England’s four. While they lead Group B, Greece trail England significantly in international rankings, sitting 44th place – 40 spots behind their hosts.

Greece’s squad features players from a far more diverse portfolio of leagues than England’s, but there is a natural emphasis on the Greek and Turkish domestic leagues, with 24-year-old Panathinaikos striker Fotis Ioannidis establishing himself as something of a star.

While he has just one goal in 11 appearances this season, he has always proven reliable in his limited national team experience. Three of his five international goals came in his last two appearances, and he will look to carry that red-hot form to Wembley.

England, who currently sit in League B Group 2, are playing for the chance to be promoted to League A, which would allow them to compete for the title of Nations League Champion next season.

Predicted Lineups:

ENG: (4-2-3-1) Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Colwill, Guehi, Lewis; Rice, Gomes; Gordon, Palmer Madueke; Watkins

GRE: (4-2-3-1) Vlachodimos; Tsimikas, Koulierakis, Mavropanos, Rota; Bouchalakis, Mantalos; Bakasetas, Pelkas, Chatzigiovannis; Ioannidis

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