ALEX CROOK PREVIEW: England v Finland

Star Sports football ambassador ALEX CROOK previews Lee Carsley’s first game at Wembley Stadium as England interim manager as the Three Lions take on Finland in the Nations League…

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Lee Carsley got his tenure as interim England boss off to an impressive start in Saturday’s 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland, writes ALEX CROOK.

Tonight Carsley makes his Wembley bow as the Three Lions take on group whipping boys Finland with anything other than a comprehensive home victory being considered a major disappointment.

There was lots to admire about the way Carsley’s team played in the first half at the Aviva Stadium with a much more front-footed, high pressing approach than we saw for much of the summer in Germany and the second goal, finished off by Jack Grealish, was a thing of beauty.

The second half was a bit more like what England fans had become accustomed to under Gareth Southgate, and the one criticism I would aim at Carsley is that he waited too long to introduce fresh legs and fresh ideas from the bench.

In fact, better, more confident teams than Ireland would have taken advantage of the defensive errors England made to give them a number of presentable opportunities to get on the scoresheet.

Carsley is expected to ring the changes for his second game at the helm with Manchester City’s flying full-back Rico Lewis and midfielder Angel Gomes both set to come into the starting line-up, Gomes for his first senior start.

It looks as if Carsley will opt to stick with the same front four that tormented Ireland in those opening 45 minutes in Dublin, with Grealish once again given the freedom to roam in the number 10 position and Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka providing the width, although I am sure Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta would prefer Saka to take the night off ahead of Sunday’s north London derby.

We know for definite that Harry Kane will make his 100th England appearance and the captain is to be presented with a golden cap before kick-off to mark the milestone. Kane once again did not look at his sharpest at the weekend but will be desperate to celebrate his century in style.

Kane is 2/1 with starsports.bet to score the first home goal of the Carsley era and 11/5 to bag a brace.

Finland were well beaten in their opening match against Greece, going down by three goals to nil in Athens, extending their run of conceding at least two or more goals in each of their last four away matches.

They also lost nine of their last 11 previous clashes with England and there is nothing to suggest that will come to an end here. England at -2 on the handicap at 23/20 with starsports.bet is a very confident selection.

I also like the look of over 1.5 goals in the first half at 6/5 with starsports.bet as I can envisage another fast-start from Carsley’s men in front of an expectant home crowd.

For my build-a-bet I am backing over 1.5 first half goals, Kane and Grealish both to score and over 5.5 England corners, which returns a tasty 11.36/1.

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RECOMMENDED BETS
BACK England -2 on the handicap 3pts ? with starsports.bet
BACK Over 1.5 first half goals 1pt at ? with starsports.bet
BACK Harry Kane to score a brace 1pt at ? with starsports.bet
Build-a-bet: Over 1.5 first half goals, Harry Kane and Jack Grealish both to score and over 5.5 England corners 1pt at 11.36/1 with starsports.bet

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PROFIT/LOSS (SEP 2024): -7.40 POINTS

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