England vs Greece live updates: UEFA Nations League team news, predictions, latest score (2025)

• Kick-off: 7.45pm BST, 2.45pm EDT, 11.45am PDT
• Watch: ITV (UK), Fox (US), DAZN (Canada), Optus (Australia)
• Streaming: Fubo (try for free)

England line-up: Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Colwill, Lewis; Bellingham, Rice; Saka, Foden, Gordon; Palmer.

Greece line-up: Vlachodimos; Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Giannoulis; Kourbelis, Siopis; Masouras, Bakasetas, Tzolis; Pavlidis.

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The DJ is doing their best to whip up a pre-match atmosphere but there are still loads of fans filing in, as there always are this close to kick-off for a midweek game.

The players are in the tunnel...

It's a chilly night in north-west London this evening, but we could be seeing a different kind of shivering later if Cole Palmer scores.

The Chelsea attacker has two England goals, but none at the home of English football... yet.

Surprisingly for someone of his talent, it is the first time ever that Trent Alexander-Arnold has started three successive matches for England.

It appears as though Lee Carsley is happy to place his trust in the Liverpool star.

Palmer will make his 10th senior England appearance in a little under 10 minutes' time and, despite his Chelsea form, he still has a lot to do to cement a regular starting place in this team.

He couldn't be in better form coming into this international break, though. In fact, he is the only player across Europe's big five leagues to have scored five goals (he has six) and provided five assists this season.

This feels like a proper evening for football.

Clear sky but a nice chill in the air. The sort of chill that you expect in England this time of the year, but far from uncomfortably cold.

A perfect night for a exciting game of international football, I reckon.

Disclaimer: Wembley is now a lot more full than it was when I took this photo — it's a sell out.

A very fun starting XI selected by Lee Carsley.

A good opportunity to give Ollie Watkins or Dom Solanke some minutes up top, but instead he is trying something new. And there is no better place to try new things than in a Nations League group that England are overwhelming favourites to win.

I think I'm safe in calling Cole Palmer the best player in the Premier League this season, so it is essential that he was included from the start. I'm really looking forward to seeing how that front five lines up.

As we see in many England starting XIs picked nowadays, there is a nice balance of youth and experience in the team.

Fitting that John Stones will captain his country for the first time tonight as he is the man with the most caps in Carsley's line-up.

• Pickford: 70
• Alexander-Arnold: 31
• Stones: 81
• Colwill: 3
• Lewis: 2
• Rice: 60
• Foden: 41
• Bellingham: 36
• Saka: 42
• Palmer: 9
• Gordon: 6

Dominic Solanke hasn’t played for England since November 14, 2017 — when he came on as a 75th-minute substitute for Jamie Vardy against Brazil in a goalless friendly at Wembley Stadium.

In the almost seven years since Solanke’s only cap, the national team have played 90 games, scored 196 goals, used 87 players and competed at four major tournaments.

If he plays tonight, it will represent the longest gap between England appearances for more than 20 years (former goalkeeper Ian Walker from February 1997 to June 2004) and the longest by an outfield player since 1980 (Frank Lampard Sr. from October 1972 to May 1980).

Thirteen players defined as centre-forwards have made an appearance for England since Solanke, 27, last did — from the country’s record scorer to two members of the one-cap club. Oh, and the current Plymouth Argyle manager too.

Here, The Athletic takes a look at how each of these 13 men have performed playing up front for England since Solanke last did and where they are now.

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John Stones will lead England out for the first time at Wembley on Thursday, as he captains England in the absence of Harry Kane, who is struggling with an injury.

“It was a great conversation that i was able to have with John last (Tuesday) night,” Carsley said. “To ask him to captain the team, it’s a brilliant achievement for John, something that he deserves.

“With the amount of caps that he’s got, the experience that he’s got, the level of professionalism that he shows within the squad, the example he is to the younger players, it was a great conversation to have.”

Stones said: “It’s everything that i could have dreamed of as a kid, and more for my family, to be able to see me walk out as England captain is a special moment. And one that I can’t thank Lee enough for.

“As he said, it was a great conversation that we had last night. One that i was a bit speechless in, but an incredible moment for me.”

Of course if you look back to the Euros, Gareth Southgate was never able to solve the Phil Foden/Jude Bellingham/Cole Palmer dilemma.

His solution was to bench Palmer and then start Bellingham and Foden together, even if they took up similar positions and ended up blunting one another.

It will be even harder to solve now that Palmer has to play too.

How interim boss Carsley addresses this question could define his England tenure.

While Greece's team tonight is below.

Greece: Vlachodimos; Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Giannoulis; Kourbelis, Siopis; Masouras, Bakasetas, Tzolis; Pavlidis.

Substitutes: Tzolakis, Mandas; Vagiannidis, Retsos, Douvikas, Pelkas, Chatzigiovanis, Hatzidiakos, Konstantelias, Zafeiris, Mantalos.

The team has been announced and Lee Carsley has brought in Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, while sticking with Anthony Gordon on the left.

With Bukayo Saka in the team as well, that means five attacking players (as well as Declan Rice), but we will have to wait for another hour to see how they are arranged.

Bellingham seems like the likeliest number nine, a role similar to one he played at Real Madrid last season, but equally it could be Foden or Bellingham instead.

Lee Carsley's England line-up is as follows:

England XI: Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Colwill, Lewis; Bellingham, Rice; Saka, Foden, Gordon; Palmer.

Substitutes: Henderson, Pope; Guehi, Walker, Livramento, Gallagher, Jones, Gomes, Madueke, Watkins, Solanke.

Five minutes or so until both team line-ups are expected to be revealed.

How much will Lee Carsley rotate?

Will Kyle Walker supplant Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, and how does he fit his stellar cast of attackers together?

We will find out shortly.

Another start expected for the Liverpool right-back tonight.

Will be interesting to see if Kyle Walker is now predominantly considered his back-up or if they'll rotate depending on the opponent.

When Real Madrid played Espanyol at home on September 21, there was a heart-in-your-mouth moment as Jude Bellingham fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder.

Though manager Carlo Ancelotti, in his press conference after the 4-1 victory, said there was no reason to fret, the incident resurfaced worries over a problem that dates back to the early stages of Bellingham’s debut season last term.

The question of how to manage the Englishman’s shoulder has again become a topic of discussion around the Spanish club.

Watching him in recent weeks, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that he cannot be at 100 per cent and the medical experts consulted here agree that shoulder dislocations often require surgery and a lengthy lay-off — at some point. Here, The Athletic explains the latest.