England vs Iceland Preview:
Possible starting lineups:
England:
Pope; Walker, Keane, Mings; Maitland-Niles, Rice, Winks, Saka; Sancho, Foden; Kane
Iceland:
Runarsson; Sampsted, Ingason, Hermansson; Saevarsson, Baldursson, Bjarnason, Johannesson, Skulason; Gudjohnsen, Sigthorsson
England welcome Iceland in a UEFA Nations League fixture this Wednesday, looking for a victory that means nothing in terms of the table. England are three points behind Denmark and five behind first-placed Belgium, with negative goal-difference. Nevertheless, they will definitely give the maximum here to obtain a victory. England started with a narrow 1:0 victory against Iceland in Reykjavik. The Three Lions had lot of issues on that match, but managed to win thanks to late penalty converted by Raheem Sterling. They also beat Belgium at Wembley, but that's all they did. England failed to score a single goal on the remaining three matches. They shared the points with Denmark playing a goalless draw in Copenhagen, but lost the reverse fixture in London. Three days ago England suffered a 2:0 defeat away at Belgium, even had 55 percent possession against the world's top-ranked national team. Leicester's Youri Tielemans opened the scoring after 10 minutes when his 20-yard shot took a deflection off Tyrone Mings, while Dries Mertens doubled the lead 13 minutes later with a superb free-kick. This was the 10th defeat in 48 matches for Southgate. It's not an excusse, but Sothgate was missing almost the whole defense - Harry Maguire and Reece James were suspended, Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold were injured, while Conor Coady was in isolation after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. To be worse, Ben Chilwell and Jordan Henderson suffered injuries against Belgium.
Iceland are the worst side in the group. In fact, they are the worst side in whole Pot A, the only national team without a single point so far. Iceland were not bad against England in the first round, though narrowly lost when Raheem Sterling converted a late penalty. In the remaining four fixtures they suffered four defeats. Iceland lost 5:1 in Brussels and 2:1 at home to Belgium. They also lost twice to Denmark, 3:0 in Reykjavik and 2:1 away. But the most painful defeat came in Budapest last week. Iceland faced Hungary in the play-off match for the upcoming European Championship. Everton's Gylfi Sigurdsson was set to be the hero for Iceland after scored from free-kick, even it was a big mistake by goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi. The Scandinavians had the advantage until the 88th minute, but then allowed two easy goals and suffered an elimination. The atmosphere in the squad isn't at desired level following the elimination. Coach Erik Hamren announced his departure, but will be in charge for this match. He insists his team will play for pride. Hamren wants to see a response from the players he has left at his disposal in his 24th match in charge. Most of the players are ready, but Hordur Magnusson is suspended after picked up his second yellow card against Denmark. The defender is reportedly one of several players to have returned to their clubs already. According to some sources, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Alfred Finnbogason, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Johann Berg Gudmundsson also left the national team.
England vs Iceland Prediction:
England are huge favorites against bottom-placed Iceland. But I think the Scandinavians will score at Wembley. I am well aware of the fact they failed the impress so far, but I will put the focus on goals. Iceland scored against Denmark three days ago and scored in Budapest in play-off fixture with Hungary. They will play without pressure and considering Southgate's defensive issues, I think they could upset the hosts.
England vs Iceland Pick: Both teams to score - Yes @ 2.75 with Unibet