England claim revenge over Greece

England are back in control of their Nation’s League campaign after securing a win with 3 goals and a clean sheet against Greece on Thursday away from home. A 3-0 win at the Olympiakos Stadio in Athens means England can get promoted back to League A in the Nations League by defeating the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday.

The Three Lions lost this fixture 2-1 at Wembley Stadium in October, but despite missing many starters, some of whom are part of nine players who withdrew from the squad, England led on Thursday with a seventh-minute strike from Ollie Watkins.

No further goal was added until the 77th minute of the game when Vlachodimos’s own goal sealed the win, while Curtis Jones closed the game with a third goal six minutes later.

The win puts England in firm control of their Nations League ranking, sitting at the top of League B Group 2, even though they are tied on 12 points with Greece. A win on Sunday against the Republic of Ireland will see them return to League A.

Furthermore, a win on Sunday will help England avoid a playoff and give the new manager clarity of focus on the FIFA World Cup. Thomas Tuchel will resume on 1 January without the need for a two-legged Nations League playoff.

Tuchel will take over from Lee Carsley to replace Gareth Southgate on a permanent basis. Lee Carsley’s final game in charge will be on Sunday against the Republic of Ireland, and he believes the team is in the right direction.

“It represents that we are moving in the right direction. We won’t get too carried away, we have a big game on Sunday at Wembley. It is just important the players played to their strengths. We have a lot of outstanding talent. The players that weren’t here, we concentrated on the ones who were. They took their opportunity today.” Carsley said.