Ivan Jovanovic, Greece's new Serbian coach, has made the Greek national team a team to be proud of.
Robert Page led the team to the last World Cup, the first since 1966, but the team was eliminated after a poor performance in the group stage. Gareth Bale has since taken his
Jovanovic's Greece won four out of four matches, including a 1-2 win over England at Wembley.
England's triumph was absolutely deserved, with the 1-2 scoreline being flattering to the hosts. Greece now sit first in Nations League Group B, which offers two interesting betting angles for punters.
Odds provided by Unibet. Data correct at time of publication and subject to change.
Both countries must score as England visit Greece
It's impossible to ignore Greece's shape. She has moved up 12 places in the FIFA world rankings since September. Victories against England, Finland and Ireland – the latter both home and away – attest to a flawless and dominant Nations League campaign.
Their new coach, who led Cypriots APOEL to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in 2012, is known for improving defensive structures and making opponents harder to break through. However, in Greece, the speed and efficiency of the transition game and counter-attacks show that Jovanovic has perfectly adjusted his new team on both counts. It was their audacity in pushing forward after a turnover that worried England.
With this showing no signs of stopping, the question becomes how to approach Greece's upcoming international break. It is still too early for both markets against England and Finland to be available. However, the Greece (5.00) vs England (1.75) markets were released ahead of the final Premier League schedule before the international break.
Given the way Greece performed at Wembley, this group of players will head into their next match against England with absolute confidence. As previously stated, England were lucky that the score was only 1-2.
Greece had several of their strikes disallowed for offside and were clearly the better team. Vangelis Pavlidis was a real scourge for Greece and gave the English defense a hard time. After just ten minutes, Levi Colwill had already stopped an attempt on the goal line and Konstantinos Mavropanos had his goal flagged for offside.
Many people will be hesitant to bet on England at 5.00, given the wealth of talent in the away dressing room. However, if you think England will win but you're not keen on the price of 1.75, how about a goal for both teams at 1.90? The Wembley match was the only match under Jovanovic's management where parity was achieved: 3-0, 0-2, 1-2 and 2-0. Of course, it is important to recognize that the opponents they faced were weaker than those they will face against England.
If we see a similar performance to England, Greece will score. Perhaps the question we should ask ourselves is: will England find the net?
Will Greece beat England for first place in the group?
Outside of Greece's upcoming match markets, there is an alternative selection that could be of interest – Greece to win Nations League Group 2 B at 2.25. Let's analyze the standings of Group 2 of the Nations League B: Greece is first with 12 points, three ahead of England (1.57 favorite) with nine points.
The next two matches are crucial for Greece. If they win Group B2, World Cup qualification could be within reach. The twelve finalists from the World Cup qualifiers, which have not yet started, will be joined by the four highest-ranked Nations League group winners who failed to become group winners or finalists in the qualifiers of the World Cup. These 16 teams will play play-off matches to determine the final four UEFA nations that will participate in the World Cup.
The stakes are high for Greece. England are expected to breeze through the World Cup qualifiers as they usually do, so the Nations League standings are not as important to the Three Lions.
If two nations are tied on points in Nations League Group 2 B, which will happen if England beat Greece and both nations win their respective final matches, the deciding factor will be the goal difference of the two face-to-face meetings between Greece and England. If England beat Greece by a margin of just one goal to level the goal difference between the two teams, and Greece and England win their final matches against Finland and Ireland, the next deciding factor will be the number of goals scored. Greece (9) is currently ahead of England (8) in terms of goals scored.
Greece and England may need to outdo each other on the final day. However, if Greece beats England or holds them to a draw, a result against Finland would announce the Greeks as Group B2 winners.
While this is somewhat complex, it is essential to know when considering the 2.25 price tag for Greece to win the group. If you think England will have a tough match in Greece, odds of 2.25 offer good value.
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