England vs Finland predictions: Carsley to make it two from two

Aidan Perkins

Spotlight

Lee Carsley will take charge of his first England home game against Finland

- England began Nations League campaign with 2-0 win over Republic of Ireland
- Finland lost 3-0 at Greece in same competition
- Recommended bet: England/England in Half Time/Full Time

England kicked off their Nations League campaign with a comfortable win over Ireland in Dublin and they should follow up with a similar result at home to Finland in interim boss Lee Carsley's second game in charge.

Carsley's side were particularly impressive in the first half on Saturday, as they took control at the Aviva Stadium with two goals inside the first 30 minutes and they are expected to dominate from the off at Wembley against Finland too.

Team news

Carsley could keep faith with the majority of the side that impressed in Dublin, with Anthony Gordon, goalscorers Declan Rice and Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka and skipper Harry Kane all set to start at Wembley.

Tino Livramento and Noni Madueke will hope to feature at some point as they eye their senior international debuts, while Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes earned their first caps when coming on as subs against Ireland.

Eberechi Eze, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and John Stones are other options to start if Carsley decides to make some changes.

Midfielders Kaan Kairinen and Rasmus Schuller are both set to miss out through injury for the visitors, while Benjamin Kallman could be dropped after he scored an own goal against Greece.

Puskas Akademia midfielder Urho Nissila and former Norwich and Celtic striker Teemu Pukki are both in contention for recalls to the starting XI.

Teemu Pukki could be brought back in by Finland for the clash at Wembley

The stats

England's sole defeat in their last eight games was the 2-1 loss to Spain in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin in July.

England have scored 13 goals in their last 10 matches.

Finland have conceded at least two goals in each of their last four away games.

Finland have never beaten England in 11 previous meetings, with the Three Lions winning nine of those games, while there have been two draws.

The last time the two countries played each other was in March 2001 in a World Cup qualifier at Anfield when goals from Michael Owen and David Beckham helped England to a 2-1 win.

The latest England vs Finland odds are available on LiveScore Bet

Prediction

In Carsley's first game in charge there seemed to be a shift towards a more attacking style of play compared to previous boss Gareth Southgate, who was often criticised for a perceived negative approach.

England took the game to the Irish and were deservedly 2-0 up early on through Rice and Grealish before they took their foot off the gas in the second half.

In Carsley's first home match, England should produce more of the same as they go up against a Finnish outfit that failed to qualify for this summer's Euros and who sit down in 63rd in FIFA's world rankings, 59 places beneath the hosts.

Finland were poor when losing their Nations League opener, failing to have a shot on target in a deserved 3-0 defeat, and they look likely to be behind at the break at Wembley before being on the end of what should be a second heavy defeat in the space of four days.

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