Graham Ruthven | Something for the Weekend: Nations League

Player to score – Kai Havertz (Germany v Hungary) 10/11

Germany start their Nations League campaign at home to Hungary on Saturday with Julian Nagelsmann’s team expect to claim three points. Kai Havertz is expected to lead the line just as he did during Euro 2024 and his early-season form for Arsenal suggests he will be sharp for his national team too.

Toni Kroos and Manuel Neuer have both retired from international duty since Euro 2024 and so Havertz will be one of the players Germany builds around for years to come. Hungary underwhelmed over the summer making it difficult to envisage them gaining anything from this weekend’s game.

 

Under 2.5 total goals – Scotland v Poland (11/20)

Scotland and Poland both underwhelmed at Euro 2024. Steve Clarke’s team went out of the group after scoring just two goals in three games (and one of them was an own goal) while Poland were the first side to be eliminated from the tournament, failing to score than once in a single match.

With both teams aiming to avoid relegation from League A of the Nations League, Thursday’s match at Hampden could be a cagey one with neither Scotland nor Poland willing to lose ground on each other so early in the campaign. Don’t expect this game to produce many goals.

 

Match to be a draw – Denmark v Switzerland (11/5)

Denmark and Switzerland both made the knockout rounds of Euro 2024 with the latter emerging as something of a surprise package as they made a run to the quarter-finals. Denmark will be without Andreas Christensen due to injury while Fabian Schar has retired from international duty since the summer.

Kasper Hjulmand could hand a start to Victor Kristiansen, Gustav Isaksen and Mikkel Damsgaard as the hosts look to get their Nations League campaign off to a wining start. Switzerland, however, proved themselves as a well-organised, flexible team at Euro 2024 and could take something from this game.

 

Both teams to score – France v Italy (17/20)

Despite making a run to the semi-finals, France’s Euro 2024 campaign was somewhat underwhelming. Didier Deschamps kept his job as manager has largely retained the same core of players from the summer although Michael Olise has been handed his first call-up to the senior France squad after impressing at the Olympics.

Euro 2024 was also disappointing for Italy as they exited in the round of 16. There’s a sense that Luciano Spalletti is still getting to grips with the group of players he inherited from Roberto Mancini, but the Azzurri still retain an attacking threat and will fancy their chances of scoring against France.

 

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Life after Gareth Southgate for England starts with a tricky Nations League match away to the Republic of Ireland and the early signs are that interim manager Lee Carsley will take the handbrake off The Three Lions. Indeed, Carsley has spoken about setting up England to be a more attack-minded outfit.

Bukayo Saka is expected to start and will pose a threat cutting inside off the right wing where England could exploit a relative weakness on the left side of the Republic of Ireland defensive line. The Three Lions will likely have too much quality for Heimir Hallgrimsson in his first match as manager of the Boys In Green.

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