The opening set of matches in the new UEFA Nations League campaign conclude on Saturday where we have another bunch of teams getting started in a competition which is starting to gain a lot of importance not just for the standings in it but for qualification for the big events.
We have plenty of big football nations on show on Saturday and it is the day where England begin their Nations League campaign along with the likes of Germany, the Netherlands and Ukraine. We should be treated to some excellent football over the course of the day.
League A
There is only one group left to begin in the top league and that is Group 3 where the recent Euro 2024 hosts Germany are the side who will be expected to make the most progress. They open up against a team they faced in that tournament in the form of Hungary. The other match sees the semi-finalists of the Euros, Netherlands, getting their Nations League season started. They go up against a Bosnia-Herzegovina outfit who will be competing in the top tier for the first time in this outing.
League B
Two groups in League B get underway on Saturday and the action actually begins in Group 2 where England will be looking to start out their quest for an immediate return to the top flight when they head to Dublin to take on Republic of Ireland in the early kick off. Both sides begin new eras under a new manager in that match. The other two teams in the group are Greece and Finland and they meet in Athens. The other group to get going on Saturday is Group 1 where Georgia look to continue to win the hearts of the neutrals when they face Czechia a few months after meeting them at the Euros. Two other teams who were involved in the Euros meet in the other game as Ukraine host Albania.
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Leagues C+D
We have just the one group in League C getting started on Saturday and it does so in the very first game to kick off in the afternoon where the Faroe Islands and North Macedonia begin Group 4. When they are done the other match takes place. That sees an improving Armenia playing host to Latvia. The other match on the day comes in League D where Group 2 gets started as the two minnows of Moldova and Malta meet to look to get off to a winning start.
Betting
I’m fully expecting England to have too much for the three teams in their group and that can start in Dublin against an Ireland side, who like the Three Lions, are beginning a tenure under a new coach. There was more than the odd eyebrow raised when they announced Heimir Hallgrimsson, the man who made a name for himself when he got Iceland to Euro 2016 and beat England when they were there. He takes the job after a terrible spell in charge of Jamaica where he had much better resources than he’ll have with Ireland in a much weaker section of the world game.
England start life under Lee Carsley and he has picked many of the players he has coached in the under-21 setup. Already the vibes coming out of the camp are that the squad would like him to get the job and generally when England are happy they play well. This will be competitive because of the history between the two countries but I expect class to prevail in the end and England just have way too much of it in the centre of the park and the top end of the pitch for Ireland here. Hallgrimsson was appointed to make Ireland hard to beat but you need more than that against this England side. England can cover a -1 Asian line here.
Tips
Back England (-1AH) to beat Ireland for a 3/10 stake at 1.98 with Unibet
