UEFA Nations League Preview: England look to bounce back against historic rivals

Round two of the Nations League begins this week, as Scotland look to regroup after a disappointing loss to Ukraine in their World Cup play-off, while England will be out to make amends for a poor opening performance in Hungary.

We preview the Home Nations’ second round of fixtures below.

Germany v England

In the lead up to The World Cup in Qatar, England – third favourites to win the tournament – would have hoped to start their Nations League campaign in good form. However, odd managerial decisions combined with end of season fatigue, saw England put on a way below par display against an eager Hungary.

They play Germany after a 2-0 round of 16 victory over the four-time World Cup winners at EURO 2020 and should go into the game with great confidence. However, the bad start on Sunday means they are second favourites at 11/5 to win.

Before their Hungary defeat, England hadn’t lost in 22 matches in all competitions, forgetting the Italy final of course, and have been in great goalscoring form over the Qatar qualifying campaign.

Harry Kane who scored 12 goals in the eight matches he played, is 9/2 to be the first goal scorer and 13/8 to score at any time. Sterling who didn’t feature in the loss to Hungary will surely be keen to make an impact and is England’s third favourite to score at any time at 14/5.

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Wales v Netherlands

Celebrations ensued in Wales on Sunday evening after a historic victory over the Ukraine which saw the small nation qualify for their first World Cup in 64 years.

In spite of the incredible boost of confidence this will have given Rob Page’s men, they are likely to struggle against one of the best Netherlands teams of recent years who will be looking to warm up for their first World Cup since 2014.

However, as England proved with a bad performance against Hungary, upsets can happen and the so called ‘smaller teams’ can quite often play with a highly driven underdog mentality.

A Wales victory seems unlikely at 24/5 but it would be unwise to write them off. With Gareth Bale in such great national form, he is Wales’s best chance of a goal at 21/10 and raises the chances of both teams to score to Evens.

Scotland v Armenia

After an impressive World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign, Scotland finished 2nd, clinching a play-off semi-final spot where they faced Ukraine at Hampden Park. It wasn’t to be this time though as an inspired display from Ukraine, resulted in a 3-1 victory and a place in the final against Wales.

Despite the lack lustre turn out from Steve Clarke’s men, Scotland go into their Nations league fixture against Armenia as the strong 7/20 favourites and will look to rediscover the winning momentum that got them so close to a place in Qatar.

Key midfielder John McGinn, despite missing a golden chance on Sunday, is 4/1 to score first and 6/4 at any time in the tie. He could be the one to lead Scotland to the most likely result of 1-0 which is priced at 4/1.

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