Key events
Lee Carsley makes four changes to his starting XI. Angel Gomes makes his first start for England at the age of 24, while Rico Lewis earns his second cap. John Stones and Ezri Konsa also step up. Standing down: Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo, Levi Colwill and Marc Guéhi. Harry Kane will make his 100th appearance tonight and be gifted with a golden cap before kick-off.
The teams
England: Pickford, Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Konsa, Lewis, Gomes, Rice, Grealish, Saka, Kane, Gordon.
Finland: Hradecky, Stahl, Hoskonen, Ivanov, Uronen, Peltola, Keskinen, Schuller, Jensen, Kamara, Pukki.
Referee: Morten Krogh (Denmark).
𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐤𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐨 – 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐗𝐈 | Nations League: 🏴🆚🇫🇮 | Tällä kokoonpanolla Englannin kaatoon 23 vuoden tauon jälkeen! 🦉🔥
Päävalmentaja Markku Kanerva on nimennyt avauskokoonpanonsa klo 21.45 Lontoon Wembleyllä alkavaan Nations League -otteluun!… pic.twitter.com/2YVAozH8yv
— Huuhkajat (@Huuhkajat) September 10, 2024
Preamble
Republican firebrand and in-the-zone folk instrumentalist Lee Carsley looks to make it two wins from two in Group B2 of the Nations League at Wembley this evening. Here’s what happened last time England met Finland …
… and that really is quite the saucy headline. They’d call that trolling nowadays. Kick-off is at 7.45pm BST, just after the playing of patriotic music. It’s not compulsory to sing along, nobody in their right mind would take issue if you don’t, but we’re going to give it a blast with both lungs and great feeling. All together now:
♬ ♯ ♪ Oi maamme, Suomi, synnyinmaa, soi, sana kultainen!
Ei laaksoa, ei kukkulaa
ei vettä rantaa rakkaampaa
kuin kotimaa tää pohjoinen
maa kallis isien! ♬ ♪ ♬