Greece 0-3 England LIVE RESULT: Jones’ sublime flick makes it three as visitors close in on top spot – latest updates
ENGLAND are now top of their Nations League group after thrashing Greece 3-0 in Athens.
Noni Madueke assisted Ollie Watkins for the opener before the Greece keeper's unfortunate own goal made it two.
And then Curtis Jones' sublime flick competed the romp, sending Lee Carsley's men to the top of the group.
- RESULT: Greece 0-3 England
- TV channel: ITV1
- FREE live stream: ITVX
- Greece starting team: Vlachodimos, Rota, Koulierakis, Mavropanos, Tsimikas, Siopis, Zafeiris, Bakasetas, Masouras, Tzolis, Pavlidis
- England starting team: Pickford; Walker, Konsa, Guehi, Lewis; Jones, Gallagher; Gordon, Bellingham, Madueke; Watkins
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Follow all the action from Athens Olympic Stadium with our live blog below...
Gus Poyet warning
Former Greece manager Gus Poyet believes the loss at Wembley absolutely proves England can lose again in Athens, which would see them missing out on first place in Group 2 and being dealt a severe blow to their 2026 World Cup plans.
Poyet knows the Greeks very well as he managed them for two years and transformed them as he promoted them to League B, only just missing out on Euro 2024 qualification in the play-off final at Georgia, which led to his exit.
The Chelsea and Tottenham legend warned the Three Lions the main ingredient that could cause another upset is the Greek players' unity.
The unity of the group, for sure, 100 per cent, [can lead to an upset] because it's there and continues to be there.
"I think when you play against a team like England, which is one of the top teams in the world, you need to be practically perfect, no mistakes.
"And you need to be on the day to bring down the difference between the two teams. So you need to be clinical. Greece was clinical at Wembley,
"You need to make sure that everybody is in a high level. You just say, what a big decision for the coach you know, to play Pavlidis or to play Ioannidis [up front] - probably both will play part of the game.
"So there is plenty of things that they need to be decided yet, and it will depend on what the two managers pick and decide how to play this game."
Kane slams absentees
Harry Kane hit out at the NINE England players who have pulled out of the Nations League squad.
I think England comes before anything. It comes before club and it is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer.
“Gareth was hot on that and he wasn’t afraid to make decisions if that started to drift from certain players.
“It’s a shame this week obviously. I think it’s a tough period of the season and maybe that’s been taken advantage of a little bit.
“I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest. I think England comes before anything, any club situation.
“The joy to play for England. I think Gareth brought that back. Every camp, people were excited to come, every camp people wanted to play for England.”
Greece danger men
Greece manager Ivan Jovanovic has put together a strong team ever since taking over in August and winning all four of his matches in charge.
The Greeks have an ensemble of players that have been playing together for years and have also stood out at club level.
England fans will recognise the likes of Newcastle's Odysseas Vlachodimos, West Ham's Dinos Mavropanos, Liverpool's Kostas Tsimikas, Cardiff's Manolis Siopis,
Jovanovic has Wembley hero Vangelis Pavlidis at his disposal after his brace in London as well as Panathinaikos star striker Fotis Ioannidis, who scored three goals in two Nations League matches before his injuries.
Captain Tasos Bakasetas is a very influential figure, while youngsters Giannis Konstantelias, Christos Tzolis and Christos Zafeiris are also ones to keep an eye on.
Greece formation
England formation
England interim boss Lee Carsley appears to have opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation with seven changes to the team that lost to Greece at Wembley.
Jordan Pickford starts in goal with captain Kyle Walker replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back and Rico Lewis on the other side, while Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa come on for Levi Colwill and John Stones.
Curtis Jones makes his England debut as he fills in for Bukayo Saka in midfield next to Conor Gallagher who's on for Declan Rice.
Noni Madueke, on for Cole Palmer, covers the right flank with Anthony Gordon on the other side, while Jude Bellingham plays behind Ollie Watkins, who replaces Phil Foden, while Harry Kane is on the bench.
David Kidd from Athens
This is surely the weakest England team to start a competitive fixture in living memory, including probably only three of the strongest eleven - Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker and Jude Bellingham - and Walker may fall behind Trent Alexander-Arnold in the pecking order at right-back.
Harry Kane is on the bench - there have been suggestions of a knock, which may explain why he sounded so peeved that eight players had withdrawn from Lee Carsley's original squad.
The Greeks are a strong side and England must win to have any chance of winning promotion to the top tier.
Greece subs
Tzolakis, Mandas, Vagiannidis, Retsos, Douvikas, Pelkas, Chatzidiakos, Konstantelias, Mouzakitis, Mantalos, Alexandropoulos, Ioannidis
Greece XI
Vlachodimos, Rota, Koulierakis, Mavropanos, Tsimikas, Siopis, Zafeiris, Bakasetas, Masouras, Tzolis, Pavlidis
England subs
Gibbs-White, Gomes, Kane, Hall, Henderson, Livramento, Quansah, Harwood-Bellis, Rogers, Bowen, Solanke; Trafford.
England XI
Pickford, Walker, Lewis, Gallagher, Konsa, Guehi, Bellingham, Gordon, Jones, Watkins, Madueke
KANE ON THE BENCH
The team sheets are in!!!
England's uncapped players
England interim boss Lee Carsley has called up seven uncapped players for his final camp before Thomas Tuchel takes over on a permanent basis.
Those are Lewis Hall, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Curtis Jones, Tino Livramento, Jarell Quansah, Morgan Rogers and James Trafford.
In fact, Aston Villa star Rogers, Southampton ace Harwood-Bellis and Newcastle defender Hall received their first ever senior call-up.
All of them will be auditioning for a more permanent spot in front of Tuchel, who we understand is not in Greece but will be keeping a close eye on proceedings.
Credit: Getty What England must do
England must defeat Greece by at least two goals tonight after losing 2-1 to Ivan Jovanovic's side at Wembley last month.
The Three Lions will then need to beat the Republic of Ireland in London on Sunday if they are to stand a realistic chance of winning their Nations League group and earning promotion back to League A.
A single-goal victory would leave England having to win by three goals more against Ireland than the Greeks’ margin of victory over relegation-bound Finland.
If Greece win or draw then they will seal first place in Group B and condemn Thomas Tuchel’s reign to begin with a potential two-legged promotion clash with Belgium.
Only the Group B League winners are promoted, with second-placed teams going into a March tie - when Tuchel will be in charge for the first time - against one of the three third-ranked teams in League A.
Currently, those four sides are Belgium, Poland, Hungary and Serbia and while England would be favourites against at least three of those sides, the Red Devils would be a significant obstacle.
Failing to get promoted back into the top 16 European sides would be a huge embarrassment but Tuchel would almost certainly prefer to begin his reign with friendlies or an opening World Cup qualifier rather than face immediate jeopardy.
Credit: Getty Head to Head
England's first ever encounter against Greece took place way back in 1971 during a European qualifier at Wembley where the hosts won 3-0.
Since then, the two sides have faced off a total of 10 times across all competitions with the Three Lions winning a majority of seven games.
The Greeks picked up their first and only win over the English national team last month in the Nations League with a 2-1 victory at Wembley.
Ethniki sealed their historic win with a brace by Vangelis Pavlidis, either side of a Jude Bellingham equaliser, just 24 hours after the shocking death of Greece star George Baldock.
Credit: PA Good evening from Athens
Welcome to SunSport's live blog coverage of the Nations League crunch clash between Greece and England at Athens' Olympic Stadium - also known as OAKA.
This is the Three Lions' penultimate match under interim boss Lee Carsley and their first since Thomas Tuchel was announced as Gareth Southgate's permanent successor at the helm.
And the national team will be looking for some revenge after losing 2-1 to Greece at Wembley last month in a high-stakes match as victory is a must.
However, Carsley will be without nine key players who dropped out of the squad ahead of the final two Nations League matches against Greece and the Republic of Ireland - emanating on Sunday at Wembley.
Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Levi Colwill, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Jarrad Branthwaite are all unavailable due to fitness issues.
That led Carsley to giving Morgan Rogers his first ever senior call-up, while also adding Jarrod Bowen, Tino Livramento, James Trafford and Jarell Quansah to the party.
John Stones, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo, Luke Shaw and Eberechi Eze were already omitted from the squad due to injury.
Greece manager Ivan Jovanovic, on the other hand, is without the suspended Dimitris Kourbelis and the injured Tasos Chatzigiovannis.
However, Jovanovic has star striker Fotis Ioannidis back at his disposal after returning from injury and called up Olympiacos wonderkid Christos Mouzakitis, 17, who could become the youngest ever scorer in Greece's history if he plays and hits the net.
Credit: Getty
