Nations League team news and prediction: England vs Iceland

 

England conclude their underwhelming UEFA Nations League tournament with a home game against Iceland. There were suggestions this fixture could be played in Albania or Germany but the Football Association eventually convinced the UK government to make an exemption for the Iceland national team flying from Denmark for this game to take place in England.

 

In the build-up to Wednesday's match, we have all your need-to-know match information in one place, including what is at stake for the two nations, team news and probable XIs.

 

When is kick off?
Wednesday 18th November, 19:45 GMT
Where is the match?
Wembley Stadium, London (England)
Where can I watch it?
Sky Sports Main Event

 

What's at stake?

 

To put it bluntly, nothing. Iceland will be relegated from League A regardless of the outcome of Wednesday's match and England are locked in third place win, lose or draw. The Three Lions are seven points clear of Iceland and cannot catch Denmark, who are three points above them, due to their inferior head-to-head record.

 

England looked favourites to top the group after beating Belgium 2-1 in gameweek 3 but back-to-back defeats for Gareth Southgate's side have left them with nothing to play for ahead of the group's conclusion. Having qualified for the UEFA Nations League finals last time around, this marks a dent in the road for Southgate.

 

Iceland, meanwhile, where never likely to challenge for a place in the finals and have performed exactly as expected in this group with five defeats from five. They have already given England a close game, however, and only lost to Denmark at the weekend after conceding twice late on.

 

Team News

 

Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson have both withdrawn from the England squad through injury since their 2-0 defeat to Belgium at the weekend, but Ben Chilwell has trained despite coming off early on Sunday. Nevertheless, Arsenal's Bukayo Saka is expected to start after impressing as Chilwell's replacement against Belgium. Harry Maguire returns from suspension but Reece James is still banned. Jack Grealish will cap a remarkable breakthrough for the national team with his third start of the break, while Phil Foden has served his punishment for England and will also get a start on Wednesday. Harry Kane is looking to break a five-game run without a goal for England, while Harry Winks may come into the side from the start here.

 

Iceland are enforced into at least one change from the side that lost 2-1 to Denmark on Sunday with centre-back Hordur Magnusson suspended for an accumulation of bookings. Willum Willumsson has also pulled out of the squad due to injury. With nothing left to play for, Iceland may give some fringe players a run out at Wembley

 

Probable XIs

 

Nations League team news and prediction: England vs Iceland

 

 

England (343): Pickford; Keane, Dier, Maguire; Trippier, Rice, Winks, Saka; Foden, Kane, Grealish

 

Iceland (352): Runarsson; Ingason, Eyjolfsson, Arnason; J. Gudmundsson, Sigurdsson, Bjarnason, Smarason, Skulason; Bodvarsson, A. Gudmundsson

 

Key Battle: Jack Grealish vs Gylfi Sigurdsson

 

Jack Grealish's reputation has soared during the international break after really impressing in England's 2-0 defeat to Belgium. After England woes earlier in the season, his chances of forcing his way into the reckoning for Euro 2020 appeared slim but that has completely changed during the current international break. Now there is talk about building this England team around him. With Harry Kane struggling for the Three Lions, Grealish will again be the man to watch for England when they take on Iceland at Wembley.

 

Any hopes of ending Iceland's UEFA Nations League campaign with a win again rest on the shoulders of Everton midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. The 31-year-old is the standout name from the Iceland squad and the fact he has only featured in two of their five group games so far perhaps explains why they only have three goals in the competition. A return of just 0.5 key passes pg, however, is a fairly poor return for Sigurdsson and he will need to really improve if the away side are to stand any chance of picking up their first points of the campaign.

 

Prediction: England 2-0 Iceland

Nations League team news and prediction: England vs Iceland