Finland – Greece

Finland will not want to finish the tournament without points

On Sunday, 17 November, the Greek national team will play against Finland in the final round of the Nations League. The match has significance for the visitors: theoretically, the Greeks can come out on top if England do not beat Ireland. The chance is minimal. Finland have no tournament motivation - the national team is relegated to the C League. This is a very sad tournament for Suomi. The team lost five matches with a total score of 2:11, although there were certain reasons for optimism in qualifying for the Euros. The Finns were not expected to fail like this. The best generation in the team's history has grown old, and the young players are of a different level. Now the Finns have almost no players from the top leagues. At the same time, the last match against Ireland was definitely not a failure. The Finns created almost 2xG chances, but didn't score a single goal. The opponent was worse in attack, but scored the only goal in the first half. The game left a positive impression. There was no gap in class. The Finns use a formation with two forwards. The team tries to act not only with an emphasis on defence. The obvious disadvantage is the lack of quality forwards. Teemu Pukki can no longer play full matches. The others are too far away in terms of level. For example, 31-year-old veteran Robin Lode has scored six goals in 72 games for the national team. In Greece, positivity was replaced by reality: the national team was defeated at home by England's second team - 0:3. A very sad game for the Hellenes. The English shone with realisation and decided the match at the expense of performance skills in an experimental line-up. Greece still have no serious reason to grieve. The minimum task for this stage is fulfilled - the second place is secured. Most likely, the Greeks are waiting for the knockout games. It was risky to play in an attacking style against England - the relatively bold football did not pay off. In Finland, a serious rotation of the two national teams is possible. The Greeks clearly gave their best against England. After three days, it will be difficult for the same age players to adjust without much tournament motivation. And the reserve players are significantly inferior in terms of level. Finland will hardly want to finish the group stage with such a nightmarish performance. We are looking at at least an even encounter, in which it is more important for the home team to win. Bookmakers overestimate the level of Greece. This was already noticeable on the line against the English. Now the odds on Finland have reached almost 4.00. In the first round the Greeks literally demolished Suomi - 3:0, but now the match will be quite different in terms of emotional content. A draw is very likely, based on all factors in the line-up and table.