Nations League | League B

Nov 17, 2024 at 5pm UK

Helsingin olympiastadion

Finlandvs.Greece

Match preview

Greece had a perfect record in the Nations League after four matchdays, while England had won all four of their previous away games against the 2004 European champions. Before Thursday's game in Athens, Lee Carsley's team were looking to avenge their previous defeat.

Greece couldn't repeat their shock win over the Three Lions in October. They fell behind early with an Ollie Watkins goal, an own goal by Odysseas Vlachodimos, and a great finish from Curtis Jones. Jordan Pickford also made a couple of great saves.

Because of their three-goal defeat last week, which gave England the edge in the head-to-head record, Greece no longer have automatic promotion to League A in their own hands. They are currently second in the rankings, which would lead to a promotion playoff.

In a nutshell, if Ivan Jovanović's side wants to take the top spot from the English again, they'll need to beat them on the final matchday. But if Carsley's side wins against Ireland, Jovanović's team won't matter.

The Pirate Ship can take comfort from the fact that they've won their last three away matches in all competitions, and they've scored twice in each of those games. Finland, on the other hand, have nothing to play for other than pride.

Markku Kanerva's team are about to finish their four-year stint in the second tier of the Nations League. They were hoping to get off the mark in League B Group 2, but it didn't happen at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Thursday.

An Evan Ferguson header just before half time settled the contest in the hosts' favour, but in an episode that summed up Finland's Nations League campaign, Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher saved a Joel Pohjanpalo penalty before stopping Robin Lod on the follow-up too.

Thursday's game was a pretty good example of how the Scandinavians have done in this year's Nations League. They're one of just two sides in League B still on zero points, along with Montenegro. No matter what happens this weekend, they'll be playing League C football in 2026-27.

This was Finland's fifth defeat in a row, and it also marked their seventh straight game without a win since they beat Estonia in a March friendly. It will be exactly 12 months to the day since their last clean sheet by the time Sunday's game rolls around.

The last time the team kept an opponent at bay was on 17 November 2023. They thrashed Northern Ireland 4-0 in a Euros qualifier. However, they lost to Greece 3-0 in September, which made it three defeats from their last four games against former continental champions.

Recent Performance

Finland Nations League form:LLLLL

Finland form (all competitions):DLLLLL

Greece Nations League form:WWWWL

Greece form (all competitions):WWWWWL

Team News

Greece needs to make a change in midfield for the final matchday. Slavia Prague's Christos Zafeiris is banned for an accumulation of yellow cards, but Dimitrios Kourbelis is back from a suspension and could be a straight swap in the engine room.

Sunday's visitors came out of Thursday's loss to England unscathed, at least physically. Jovanovic might make a few unforced changes after making three changes before the hour mark in midweek.

Fotis Ioannidis – who's scored three goals in this year's competition so far – is pushing to displace Vangelis Pavlidis in the final third, while Liverpool's Kostas Tsimikas is facing competition from Dimitris Giannoulis for the left-back spot.

Finland have no disciplinary concerns for their final match of the season this weekend, but Kanerva had to substitute centre-back Matti Peltola in the 58th minute against Ireland due to an unspecified injury.

The hosts have no need to take any unnecessary risks with relegation confirmed, so Daniel O'Shaughnessy could step in for the stricken Peltola in Helsinki. Pohjanpalo and all-time top scorer Teemu Pukki will compete to come into the attack.

He's just 13 appearances away from overtaking Jari Litmanen as Finland's most-capped men's player of all time, but he's only played for 77 minutes across his side's Nations League campaign so far.

Possible starting lineup

Finland possible starting lineup:

Hradecky; O'Shaughnessy, Ivanov, Hoskonen; Niskanen, Kairinen, Kamara, Uronen; Lod, Pukki, Hakans

Greece possible starting lineup:

Vlachodimos; Rota, Mavropanos, Hatzidiakos, Giannoulis; Kourbelis, Siopis; Masouras, Bakasetas, Tzolis; Ioannidis