Finland vs Greece
EURO Qualification
Date: Thursday, 5 September 2019
Kick-off at 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
Venue: Ratina Stadion (Tampere).
Finland Forms & Team News
Finland claimed a 2-0 win against Liechtenstein in a previous qualifying match. Teemu Pukki opened the scoring in the 37th minute while Benjamin Kallman struck the second goal after the break.
After losing their opening match with Italian group leaders, Markku Kanerva's men have been the best in qualifying, winning their last three matches. Their current good form puts them at 2.05 to secure their fourth straight win on Thursday.
Teemu Pukki is very good for Finland lately with six goals in his last 10 international appearances. The striker must start attacking with Benjamin Kallman who is also right on target against Liechtenstein.
Greek Form & Team News
Greece suffered a 3-2 home defeat against Armenia last time in qualifying. They fell two goals in the first half with Zeca pulled one back while Konstantinos Fortunis's effort three minutes from time proved to be a mere consolation.
John Van't Schip's men were pathetic in qualifying and traveled to Finland with three successive defeats. They are not seeded to win on Thursday at 4.00 while the draw is priced at 3.00.
The Greeks are in a bad attack with some of their forwards struggling for goals. Efthymis Koulouris often leads the line for the visitors but the striker is still looking for his first international goal.
HEAD TO HEAD
Finland and Greece played in the same UEFA Nations League Group last year and the two teams defeated the others at home.
Finland are unbeaten in 7 home matches against Greece and they have won 3 of their last 4 matches including a 2-0 victory in October 2018.
PREDICTION
Italy look like they will move with one of the Qualifying places in this Group, but Finland can be very difficult to retreat if they can win the same day Italy visits Armenia.
If the Group leaders win there, Finland will be at least 5 points from their closest rivals with half of the Group matches finished, but they are unable to take it for granted. Finland are in good shape at home and won their UEFA Nations League Group, but the pressure of seeing a potential place in the European Championship Final for the first time could be a factor.
Greece is under a lot of pressure after only getting 4 points from a possible 12 and that includes losing its home to Armenia. They fought in the UEFA League of Nations and Greece lost here less than twelve months ago which would be a mental obstacle to overcome.
They have a bad record in Finland with 3 defeats in their last 4 visits here and I think supporting the home team on the Asian Handicap is the game.
PREDICTION:
Finland 2-1 Greece
