England face Finland this evening in the Nations League as they look to bounce back from defeat to Greece.
The Three Lions fell to an embarrassing 2-1 loss at Wembley on Thursday, a result that has thrown Lee Carsley‘s long-term future into doubt.
It was a night to forget for England and CarsleyGetty
Harry Kane wasn’t fit to feature, but despite having Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke available, the interim England manager started Jude Bellingham as a false nine.
It was a move that backfired spectacularly as Vangelis Pavlidis scored twice, including a stoppage-time winner to inflict a shocking defeat on England.
It could have been so much worse as well, as Greece saw three goals disallowed by VAR for offside, showing just how exposed England were.
Carsley will have to pick the players up and go again as they face a Finland side who lost to the Republic of Ireland.
Finland vs England: A dreadful evening
England have endured some shocking defeats in recent years, with a 4-0 thrashing to Hungary and a 2-1 loss against Iceland particular standouts.
However, this was right up there, especially given the players who started the game.
Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Anthony Gordon were all in the XI, but England rarely tested Newcastle’s third-choice goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
It was also the chaos in defence and midfield that was a key problem as Greece carved through England time and time again on the counter-attack.
In the end, the visitors got their deserved victory and condemned England to an awful defeat.
England were shocking against Greece and picked up nothing from the gameGetty
Finland will host England for the first time since October 2000 – a goalless draw in a World Cup qualifier. The Finns have drawn two of their last three home games with the Three Lions (L1).
England are unbeaten in each of their previous 12 meetings with Finland (W10 D2), the joint-most they have faced a nation without ever suffering defeat (level with Bulgaria – P12 W8 D4).
Finland have only lost two of their 10 home games in the UEFA Nations League (W6 D2), although one of those did come last time out against the Republic of Ireland (1-2).
Finland vs England: Date and how to follow
This Nations League League B Group 2 clash is set to take place on Sunday, October 13.
Kick-off at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium is scheduled for 5pm UK time.
talkSPORT will have live coverage of the tie, with Adrian Durham serving as your presenter.
Commentary will then come from Jim Proudfoot and England icon Stuart Pearce.
talkSPORT.com will also be right across the action with a live blog.
To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
Phil Foden and co couldn’t get going at WembleyGetty
England have lost two of their last four competitive fixtures (W2), more defeats than they suffered across their 20 previous such games (W12 D7 L1) – eight of the Three Lions’ last 11 competitive losses have come in the UEFA Nations League.
Finland have lost each of their last three games (all in the UEFA Nations League) and could lose four in a row for the first time since March 2016.
England are unbeaten in their last six away games in all competitions (W4 D2), last having a longer such run between March 2013 and October 2015 (12 in a row).
Finland vs England: Team news
England will hope to have Kane back to lead the line after he sat out the Greece defeat.
The England captain hobbled off for Bayern Munich against Eintracht Frankfurt before the international break, but he still joined up the rest of the Three Lions at St George’s Park.
But the medical staff decided to take no risks with Kane, and he is now in a race against time to be ready.
Saka went off early into the second half against the Greeks and has now left the squad along with Curtis Jones.
Apart from that, there could be plenty of changes, with Angel Gomes, Marc Guehi and Watkins all hoping to start.
For Finland, Teemu Pukki was a late substitute in their defeat to the Republic of Ireland on Thursday.
So, the former Norwich and Celtic man might get a chance to lead the line on Sunday.
Saka couldn’t continue against Greece and is almost certain to sit out of the Finland match
Finland’s Joel Pohjanpalo has scored six goals in his last eight home international starts, including last time out against the Republic of Ireland – each of the striker’s last six goals for his country have come at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.
Jude Bellingham has been directly involved in eight goals in his last 12 England appearances (5 goals, 3 assists); since the start of 2023 only Harry Kane (15) has scored more goals for the Three Lions than the Real Madrid man (5 – level with Bukayo Saka).
Finland vs England: What has been said?
talkSPORT host Adrian Durham was fuming with what he saw from England.
Speaking on talkSPORT Breakfast, he said: “When you think about it, step back and think about how many Wembley performances from England have been as bad as that? Because I can’t think of many at all. The Hungary 0-4 at Molineux was probably worse.
“My feeling after we lost 3-2 at home to Croatia at Wembley and didn’t qualify for Euro 2008, I felt worse then.
“But in terms of a performance at Wembley from an England side, I honestly cannot think of a worse one in my lifetime.
“Since I’ve been watching England, I can’t think of a worse one. And it falls on Lee Carsley’s head.”
