England suffered a bruising defeat to Greece in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday and will be aiming for redemption against Finland this Sunday in Helsinki.

Lee Carsley’s bid for a permanent position in the dugout took a significant hit when the Euro 2004 champions made the journey to Wembley, with an unorthodox lineup yielding a disjointed performance in the capital. A brace from Vangelis Pavlidis, including a 94th-minute winner, condemned the Three Lions to a dismal defeat.

A trip to Finland offers England the chance to get back on track in their Nations League campaign. They won their opening two matches, one of which came against Finland at Wembley, but have now fallen behind Greece in the standings as they search for promotion back to League A following 2022/23’s surprise relegation.

Here is 90min’s guide to Finland vs England.

Finland vs England H2H Record (Last Five Games)

Current form (all competitions)

England have several absentees ahead of Sunday’s encounter in the Finnish capital, with Bukayo Saka sustaining a hamstring injury in the defeat to Greece. He will miss out this weekend and may be joined on the sidelines by Harry Kane, as the England skipper missing Thursday’s loss entirely.

Jack Grealish remains a doubt after sitting out the Greece clash with a knock but could make the bench, while Liverpool’s Curtis Jones has withdrawn from the squad to face Finland due to a personal commitment.

After playing without an orthodox number nine for much of the recent defeat, Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke will surely come into the XI for England. Declan Rice should also be partnered by a more natural central midfielder in Finland.

England predicted lineup vs Finland (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Guehi, Colwill; Bellingham, Rice; Madueke, Palmer, Foden; Watkins.

Finland have a clean bill of health heading into Sunday’s encounter and should welcome former Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki back into the starting XI. Venezia’s Joel Pohjanpalo scored in his place in the recent 2-1 defeat to Republic of Ireland but is likely to surrender his starting spot.

England will be hopeful that Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky is busy on Sunday after struggling to test Greece’s Odysseas Vlachodimos too often.

Manager Markku Kanerva is unlikely to change too much from the side that recorded a respectable 2-0 defeat to England at Wembley in September.

Finland predicted lineup vs England (4-3-3): Hradecky; Stahl, Hoskonen, Ivanov, Galvez; Kamara, Schuller, Walta; Lod, Pukki, Antman.

England’s loss to Greece was a firm reality check for Carsley and his players after two comfortable victories at the start of the Nations League campaign. The interim Three Lions boss is likely to field a more traditional lineup in Helsinki than he did midweek.

However, despite tasting a deserved but surprise defeat, England should bounce back in Finland given their superior quality. Sunday’s opposition have lost all three of their matches in the competition and threw away a one-goal lead in defeat to Republic of Ireland last time out.

It may not be spectacular from England – it seldom is – but they should return to winning ways with little fuss despite a few significant absentees.

Prediction: Finland 0-2 England

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