Greece vs England prediction: Kane to deliver for injury-hit Three Lions

England take on Greece on Thursday looking to make amends after their shock defeat to Ivan Jovanovic’s side at Wembley last month, which leaves them in danger of needing a play-off to return to the top tier of the Nations League (7.45pm, ITV1).

The famous 2-1 win over Lee Carsley’s experimental England side means Greece sit top of the table with the maximum 12 points from their four matches, with England second three points behind.

Another win for the Greeks will see them lock up first place with a game spare and secure promotion to Nations League A for the first time. However, the hosts are 18/5 underdogs to repeat their Wembley win, with betting sites making England odds-on for victory.

The game in Athens is Carsley’s penultimate one in charge, with new manager Thomas Tuchel taking over in January, and it’s not been the build-up he would have hoped for.

Eight players pulled out of the squad on Monday leaving him particularly short of experience, but it also provides an opportunity for several players he knows well from the Under-21 side.

Morgan Rogers, Jarrod Bowen, Jarrad Branthwaite, Tino Livramento and goalkeeper James Trafford were all added to the squad following the withdrawals of Levi Colwill, Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale.

John Stones was already missing through injury along with Harry Maguire so it will be a completely new pairing at centre half, while Newcastle United defender Lewis Hall could win his first cap as England desperately look to resolve the left-back issues.

With Luke Shaw still out injured and Kieran Trippier now retired from international football, that position continues to be a problem, and, instead of playing players out of position, Hall could be the answer.

Greece’s win in October, thanks to a brace from Vangelis Pavlidis, including the winner in injury time, was their first-ever win over England, but whether they can back it up will depend on what England learned from that experience.

Carsley gave the media and fans what they wanted by naming Jude Bellingham, Foden and Palmer in the side in the absence of Harry Kane due to injury, but the plan backfired with England looking rudderless going forward without a focal point to their attack.

Kane returned for the following match against Finland and so did normal service as Grealish, Alexander-Arnold and Rice all scored in a 3-1 win.

Both sides have plenty to play for an even with all the injuries, you’d expect England’s extra quality to shine through. However, they make little appeal at the odds on football betting sites.

For something a bit different, how about pairing both teams to score with Bellingham and Pavlidis to have at least one shot on target at 9/2 with bet365.

Both Bellingham and Pavlidis were on the scoresheet when the two sides last met and Bellingham recently opened his Real Madrid account for the season.

England have only kept two clean sheets in the last eight games, against the Republic of Ireland and Finland, and with another new-look back line there are bound to be some nervy moments.

Greece vs England prediction: BTTS and Jude Bellingham and Vangelis Pavlidis to have 0.5 shots on target - 9/2 Bet365

With 19 goals in 19 games for club and country this season, captain Kane is an easy option if punters are looking for a goalscorer bet, especially when you can get 7/4 on him scoring anytime on some betting apps, including Betway.

His goalscoring record since moving to Germany has been unbelievable with 71 goals in 78 games for Bayern Munich and England since the start of last season.

His last international goals came on 10 September when he scored twice in the 2-0 win over Finland, on his 100th cap, and he would love to fire England to the top of the Group 2 table.

Greece vs England predictions 2: Harry Kane to score anytime 7/4 - Betway

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