Qualifying for the 2020 European Championship resumes this week and have we have some cracking games to watch. This is a crucial period in many of the groups and Group J is a great example. As things stand, Italy are top with maximum points from four games and Finland are in second place with 9 points from their four matches.
On Thursday 5th September, Finland are in action as they hope to move one step closer to qualification. They take on Greece at the Tampere Stadium and know a win would move them 8 points clear of their opponents. The Greeks need to win this match, as they are currently 5 points adrift of Finland and cannot afford to fall further behind.
Finland started the group with arguably their toughest match of the campaign as they travelled to Udine to take on Italy.
The hosts made an early breakthrough and it was tough for Finland to come back from the early disappointment and they went on to lose the game 2-0.
Their second game was also away from home but this time Finland recorded a 2-0 win at Armenia. A goal just before half-time broke the deadlock and Finland added a second with 10 minutes remaining on the clock. Next was a home game against Bosnia, one of the teams hoping to qualify from this group and it was another good 2-0 win for Finland.
Back on the road, Finland kept up their liking for 2-0 wins as they got the same result at Liechtenstein.
Greece have struggled despite picking up a win in Liechtenstein to get them off the mark early in the group. However, they were held to a 2-2 draw in Bosnia and although it was a good comeback from 2-0 down, that was the last point they won. Following that draw, Greece lost 3-0 at home to Italy and then suffered a shock 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Armenia.
It was the latter result which has derailed their bid to qualify for the 2020 European Championship and they must pick something up from this game to have any chance. However, trends show Greece have won only one of their last five away matches, losing three including a defeat at Finland in the UEFA Nations League.
Team news and Finland will start with in-form Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki in attack. They have plenty of international experience throughout the team, including captain Tim Sparv.
Greece are struggling for a regular goal scorer in their squad and not one of their current strikers has scored for their country. Kostas Manolas will be key in defence and it will be his job to prevent Pukki from scoring goals.
Given the form of both teams, you have to back Finland to win this game. They defeated Greece 2-0 at home in the Nations League and it would not be a surprise to see a similar result.