Opta Facts | UEFA Nations League: Poles apart as The Tartan Army roars

FORMER winners France and Portugal, along with current champions Spain, will all fancy their chances of going deep in this year’s revamped UEFA Nations League.

The expanded format will see a new knockout round included, a two-legged quarter-final, which will be played in March, with the finals taking place in June.

La Roja will certainly believe they can go back-to-back and retain their title. Building on their 2022 Nations League triumph Luis de la Fuente’s young side were deserved winners of the Euros, blending skill and verve with an undying belief in their ability. Grouped with Denmark, Switzerland, and Serbia, many fancy Spain to top their group and go all the way. Time will tell…

Of course, France, Germany, and Portugal will all believe they can go the distance, but with tougher groups to navigate it is easy to see why Spain have been installed as favourites, but what of the Home Nations?

This is where the guys at Opta come in. We’ve delved into their incredible database of match facts and stats, and using their AI-driven predictive analysis, we’ve come up with our best bets for what could be an incredible UEFA Nations League.

Of course, it’s not an exact science, it’s a funny old game…

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SCOTLAND vs POLAND

Scotland are the only Home Nation who can win The Nations League this year. However, in a group containing Poland, Portugal, and Croatia, they have their work cut out! Will The Tartan Army roar?

● Five of the last six games between Scotland and Poland have ended as draws, including the most recent game in March 2022, a 1-1 draw

● Scotland have never beaten Poland in a competitive international match in four attempts (D3 L1), despite going ahead in each of the last three competitive games between the nations.

● Lewandowski has five goals and three assists in his last nine starts for Poland and netted twice in his last appearance against Scotland in October 2015 at Hampden Park

 

NORTHERN IRELAND vs LUXEMBOURG

● Northern Ireland have won three of their five games against Luxembourg (D1 L1), winning 3-1 in a friendly in March 2022 in the most recent meeting.

● Conor Bradley scored both of Northern Ireland’s goals in their 2-0 win over Andorra in June

● Luxembourg have lost their last two matches, losing to France and Belgium in friendlies in June. They haven’t lost three in a row since March 2022, which included a defeat to Northern Ireland.

 

WALES vs TURKEY

● Wales have only won one of their last five matches against Turkey (D2 L2), winning 2-0 at EURO 2020.

● Turkey have failed to win any of their last four away matches against Wales (D2 L2), scoring just one goal in those four games,

● Wales have only lost three of their last 30 home matches in all competitions (W17 D10)

 

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND vs ENGLAND

● England won their last meeting with the Republic of Ireland in November 2020

● England have shipped the opening goal in each of their last four matches, scoring just 13 goals in 11 games in 2024

● Heimir Hallgrímsson will take charge of the Republic of Ireland for the first time in this match. He was in joint charge of Iceland when they knocked England out of EURO 2016 with a 2-1 win; the only manager to defeat England with two different nations is Bora Milutinovic, in 1985 with Mexico and 1993 with the USA.

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