On Saturday, at 17:00, Iceland receives the visit of England to Gareth Southgate, who hopes to start well the new edition of the UEFA Nations League. 3rd place in the previous edition of the competition, England has a revenge to take against the “Vikings”: Iceland eliminated the Albion national team from Euro 2016, in what was a great shame for the history of the British.
At present, the difference in value is definitely in favor of England, which has a young team, full of rising players.
“We approached the game with the thought of victory and we prepared very well to get the three points. My players are very fit and have a craving for football, because this break did not help anyone from a sports point of view. What happened in 2016, such things can happen in football, but the important thing is to be successful now “, said Gareth Southgate, England’s coach.
He will make small changes in the starting “11”, but he has where to choose fit footballers! The England team will not lack basic people like Alexander-Arnold, Walker, Mount, Sterling, Kane and Sancho, but Southgate will also bet on young prospects like Mount, Rice and Foden. As we can see, the average age of the “lions” is very low and we expect to see a good pace imposed by the British.
Fast and technical, the visiting players will take possession of the ball, in front of a rival in decline. Bodvarsson and Sigthorsson are the most dangerous Icelanders, but the defense in front of Pope should do well in this move, with a good homogeneity.
England have become a very spectacular team in recent years and in three of the four matches played in the UEFA Nations League at the inaugural edition, at least three goals have been scored. Denmark and Belgium are also part of the A2 group, so the fight for supremacy will not be easy. That’s why Gareth Southgate’s team knows they have to attack all the points here!
England comes after exceptional performances in the Euro qualifiers, managing to beat Kosovo (5-3), Bulgaria (6-0), Montenegro (7-0) and again Kosovo (4-0). Iceland also has good results, even if the opponents they met lately were of a modest level. Remain memorable, in the last year, the draw in Turkey (0-0) and the good match with France (0-1), lost at home, at home. At home, Iceland has four victories in the last five matches: 2-0 with Andorra, 3-0 with Moldova, 2-1 with Turkey and 1-0 with Albania. This time, however, more white-blues will defend themselves.
Iceland: Halldorsson; Hermannsson, Arnason, Ingason, Skulason; A Sigurdsson, Bjarnason, Trautason, Anderson; Bodvarsson, Sigthorsson
Coach: Erik Hamrén
England: Pope; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Keane, Walker; Mount, Rice, Foden; Sterling, Kane, Sancho
Coach: Gareth Southgate
-Iceland has received only 4 goals in the last 18 matches played, in all competitions;
-Harry Kane is the most dangerous player in England, with 32 goals in 45 selections in the group;
-The two teams met only twice and each time they scored both teams;
-England has four victories in the last five matches, all with at least 4 goals scored;
-Iceland have not conceded a goal in 4 of their last 5 matches, including the last two friendlies;
-Iceland comes after 3 consecutive trips, with Moldova (2-1), Canada (1-0) and El Salvador (1-0);
PREDICTION: Over 2,5 goals @ 1,82
