England vs Finland – Match Preview and Team News

England aim to build on a perfect start to their Nations League campaign when Finland are the visitors to Wembley in the second round of fixtures.

It was a winning start for Lee Carsley as interim manager at the weekend and the Three Lions will start as strong favourites against a Finland side currently bottom of the group.

Here is everything you need to know about Tuesday’s clash.

Form

England: WDWLW

England bounced back from their disappointment at losing the Euro 2024 final to make a winning start to the UEFA Nations League on Saturday. In Lee Carsley’s first game as interim manager, the Three Lions beat the Republic of Ireland 2-0 in Dublin.

First-half goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish wrapped up the three points for England, with the second a brilliant one-touch move to offer encouraging signs under the new man in charge.

Grealish shone in a more central role, while Trent Alexander-Arnold was influential at right-back, having been used as part of a midfield experiment in the summer. Carsley also handed late debuts to u-21 allies Angel Gomes and Morgan Gibbs-White, each of whom will be desperate to run out at Wembley on Tuesday night.

Finland: LWLDL

Finland’s campaign began in contrasting fashion as the Scandinavians were a sorry second-best in defeat to Greece. The 3-0 reverse leaves Markku Kanerva’s side bottom of the group, ahead of a fixture with an England side that Finland have never beaten in 11 past meetings.

Finland’s only win in their last five games came against minnows Estonia, while their last two visits to the United Kingdom have ended without wins. Wales thrashed Finland 4-1 in March, though there was improvement to fight back from two goals down to draw with Scotland in June.

Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky is the most high-profile name in the squad, while there’s three British-based players in Celtic shot-stopper Viljami Sinisalo, Exeter City defender Ilmari Niskanen and uncapped Aberdeen forward Topi Keskinen.

Last Meeting

England 2-1 Finland, World Cup qualifier, 24th March 2001

It’s been over two decades since the last meeting between the teams as England survived a scare to earn a hard-fought win in 2002 World Cup qualification.

Gary Neville’s own goal handed the visitors a 26th-minute lead as England’s challenging qualification campaign threatened to unravel at Anfield. Having failed to win in their opening two fixtures of the group, England were under real pressure under new head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson but equalised a minute before half-time through Michael Owen.

David Beckham’s goal five minutes after the break sealed three points, though the Three Lions were reliant on a brilliant late save from David Seamen to deny Jari Litmanen.

Predicted Lineups

England: Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Guehi, Colwill; Rice, Gomes, Grealish; Gordon, Saka, Kane.

Finland: Hradecky; Stahl, Hoskonen, Ivanov, Galvez; Peltola, Sschuller, Lod, Kamara, Antman; Pohjanpalo.

Who is the referee?

Morten Krogh Hansen (Denmark)

What channel is England vs Finland on?

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on ITV1.

What time is kick off?

England vs Finland kicks off at 7.45pm BST on Tuesday 10 September.

Odds

England – 1/9

Draw – 17/2

Finland – 16/1

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See more – Five of the best uncapped Premier League players

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