The inaugural Nations League tournament has been a huge success for UEFA. It has replaced meaningless friendlies in between qualifiers with high intensity competitive matches. For once, UEFA have come up with a good idea. Now, the winners of the highest tier groups face off in the semi-finals for a chance to reach the final and be crowned the first ever Nations League champion.
PORTUGAL vs SWITZERLAND
Portugal were undefeated (W2, D2) as they topped their group containing Italy and Poland. Switzerland, out of the four teams, are the surprise package to have made it this far. They finished ahead of Belgium on head-to-head goal difference thanks to a 5-2 win over them. Portugal should be considered the favourites as they have an abundance of attacking talent in their squad (Silva, Fernandes, Felix, Ronaldo and Guedes) with good, technically gifted midfielders (Neves and Moutinho) that compliment each other well. Switzerland's squad is young and pacy but doesn't have as gifted a squad as Portugal. It's now at a point for Portugal where they no longer have to rely on Ronaldo up front, which can only be a positive thing.
VERDICT - Portugal
NETHERLANDS vs ENGLAND
The Netherlands' Nations League campaign was the catalyst to start their footballing revival. They have not qualified for the past two major tournaments but their performances in the Nations League lifted the mood, qualifying ahead of world champions France and arch rivals Germany. England continued their World Cup brilliance by edging out Spain and Croatia. Holland have an incredible array of young talent (de Ligt, de Jong, Bergwijn and van de Beek) that are so good for their age. Perhaps their attack is where they fall down, as Depay is a natural winger who has to play centrally. The Three Lions also have a selection of quality young players (Sancho, Rice and Alexander-Arnold) but may be at a disadvantage given 5 of their players were involved in Champions League final 4 days ago, compared with 2 for the Netherlands. The fitness of Harry Kane is also a problem that may help England, but I think we'll still be be fine.
VERDICT - England
The Nations League lets itself down by having a 3rd place play-off - possibly the worst match to be involved in - so all sides know that even if they lose the semi-final, they will still have another match on Sunday. There will be a review of these matches out on Friday as well as a preview of Sunday's games (review out Monday) and predicted line-ups for both England games (tomorrow and Sunday).
Twitter - @FourAddedMins
Portugal were undefeated (W2, D2) as they topped their group containing Italy and Poland. Switzerland, out of the four teams, are the surprise package to have made it this far. They finished ahead of Belgium on head-to-head goal difference thanks to a 5-2 win over them. Portugal should be considered the favourites as they have an abundance of attacking talent in their squad (Silva, Fernandes, Felix, Ronaldo and Guedes) with good, technically gifted midfielders (Neves and Moutinho) that compliment each other well. Switzerland's squad is young and pacy but doesn't have as gifted a squad as Portugal. It's now at a point for Portugal where they no longer have to rely on Ronaldo up front, which can only be a positive thing.
VERDICT - Portugal
NETHERLANDS vs ENGLAND
The Netherlands' Nations League campaign was the catalyst to start their footballing revival. They have not qualified for the past two major tournaments but their performances in the Nations League lifted the mood, qualifying ahead of world champions France and arch rivals Germany. England continued their World Cup brilliance by edging out Spain and Croatia. Holland have an incredible array of young talent (de Ligt, de Jong, Bergwijn and van de Beek) that are so good for their age. Perhaps their attack is where they fall down, as Depay is a natural winger who has to play centrally. The Three Lions also have a selection of quality young players (Sancho, Rice and Alexander-Arnold) but may be at a disadvantage given 5 of their players were involved in Champions League final 4 days ago, compared with 2 for the Netherlands. The fitness of Harry Kane is also a problem that may help England, but I think we'll still be be fine.
VERDICT - England
The Nations League lets itself down by having a 3rd place play-off - possibly the worst match to be involved in - so all sides know that even if they lose the semi-final, they will still have another match on Sunday. There will be a review of these matches out on Friday as well as a preview of Sunday's games (review out Monday) and predicted line-ups for both England games (tomorrow and Sunday).
Twitter - @FourAddedMins
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