It’s been a very long time coming, but International football finally returns with the UEFA Nations League!
All the Home Nations teams are in action this week, and BetVictor brand ambassador Michael Owen focuses on England’s opener against Iceland this Saturday.
Get his thoughts and exclusive predictions ahead of the match.
HT/FT - England, England
Iceland v England
England haven’t played a competitive match since November 2019 and manager Gareth Southgate will be delighted to get the action back underway on Saturday evening when England take on Iceland at Laugardalsvollur, Reykjavik.
England finished their Euro 2020 qualification campaign in fine style, winning their last three matches with a combined scoreline of 17-0 and Gareth Southgate will be keen to pick up where they left off.
I’m delighted to see so many youngsters in the England squad for this match, although I was very surprised indeed not to see Jack Grealish’s name amongst them. That said, and due to Marcus Rashford’s injury, Grealish has now been called up.
I am very excited about the prospects of this young England team and I think they will go a long way together in the next few major tournaments.
However, Iceland away is where all the focus needs to be at this moment and with Iceland missing five key players I’m finding it very difficult to make a case for them to cause another upset. A repeat of their 2-1 victory last time they faced England in the UEFA European Championship quarter final back in 2016 seems most unlikely. I’m going for a comfortable start to England’s campaign with a 2-0 victory for the Three Lions.
