Iceland vs. England 9/5/20 UEFA Nations League Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

Iceland is hosting England at Laugardalsvollur in round 1 in the UEFA Nations League.

Iceland is a good team, and they have been in good form before the pandemic. In the Euro Cup qualifications, Iceland has ended in third place in their group with 19 points, 4 points less than Turkey. Iceland still has the chance to qualify for the Euro Cup, but they need to go through Romania in order to do so. In their last qualifications game against Moldova on the road, Iceland was the better team with 55% of ball possession, 7 shots on goal, 6 corner kicks, and 84% of the correct passes. Iceland has won this match 1-2. Iceland is coming into this game without a few important players, but they are still a good team. Iceland is in 39th place in the FIFA Standings, but despite their solid form before the pandemic, Iceland is still a team with very little offense, the team that is relying solely on their defense, and that sometimes doesn’t work. Far from it that Iceland is a bad team, but they are struggling a lot against the stronger teams, and it will be the same if Iceland qualifies for the Euro Cup next year.

England is one of the best teams in the world, and they are one of the favorites to win the Euro Cup title next year. England is a really strong team, especially in the attacking end where they have Kane, Sancho, Abraham, Sterling, Greenwood, and Rashford who will not be playing in this match. England has won their group in the Euro Cup qualifications with 21 points, 37 scored goals, and only 6 conceded goals. In the Euro Cup next year, England will play against the Czech Republic and Croatia, while the fourth team is yet to be determined. In their latest qualifications game against Kosovo on the road, England was the better team with 56% of ball possession, 7 shots on goal, 2 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and 89% of the correct passes. England has won this match 0-4. England has lost only 1 of their last 6 games, and during that time England has scored 27 goals while conceding only 5 goals. After reaching the semifinals at the World Cup 2 years ago, England has been constantly improving, and thanks to that, England is in 4th place in the FIFA standings. The main reason for England’s improvement is Gareth Southgate, their head coach who took over the team back in 2016, and since then, England has 24 wins, 5 draws, and 8 losses. England is a tough team with plenty of offensive firepowers, and it will be extremely hard to stop.

Iceland is good, but they are coming into this without a few important players. Iceland lacks offense, while their defense is bad against stronger teams. England is nearly at full power, and they were scoring a ton of goals before the pandemic, and I think they will continue to do so here. I’m siding with England.