UEFA Nations League A is always a tough competition as the leading nations are drawn together in the groups. The 2020/21 Nations League A, Group 2 is a good example and this group contains Iceland, Denmark, Belgium, and England.
On Sunday the 11th of October Iceland host Denmark at Laugardalsvöllur, in Reykjavík and this is a key fixture for both teams.
🇮🇸 A 3rd major tournament is one match away for Iceland following their play-off semi-final win against Romania 👏#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/Qk0DRrd5wU— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) October 8, 2020
🇮🇸 A 3rd major tournament is one match away for Iceland following their play-off semi-final win against Romania 👏#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/Qk0DRrd5wU
Iceland come into the game sitting bottom of the group and are yet to get off the mark. They started with a tough away fixture against Belgium and took a shock lead after only 11 minutes.
Unfortunately, it took Belgium just 2 minutes to score the equaliser and from then on it became a difficult night for Iceland as Belgium went on to score 4 additional goals to win the game 5-1.
Iceland's second match of the group came at home against England and it appeared as though they did enough to take a point from the game. However, a handball incident following a corner late in the game gifted England a penalty and they scored to win the match 1-0.
This match comes quickly on the back of a European qualifying play off at home against Romania. Iceland produced a good performance in the first half and went in at the interval leading 2-0. Romania got a goal back in the second half but Iceland held on to progress to the final.
Much like their opponents, Denmark have found life tough at the beginning of Nations League A, Group 2. They started with a home fixture against Belgium and found themselves 1-0 down after only 9 minutes. The Danes remained in the game for much of the 90 minutes but conceded a decisive second goal with 11 minutes left on the clock to lose the match 2-0.
The second fixture in this group for Denmark was also played at home, this time against England. In what was an extremely competitive game, neither team could make the breakthrough and the match ended 0-0, giving Denmark their first point of the group.
Denmark decided to play a friendly match ahead of this game at home against the Faroe Islands. It was a game they were always going to win and Denmark were 4-0 up at half time. There were no further goals for either team in the second half and it was a comfortable night of action for the Danes.
Trends show Denmark are on an unbeaten run of 7 matches away from home. There have been 2 victories and 5 draws in those 7 games.
Team news and Iceland could make some changes from the team that played against Romania on Thursday night. Having not really featured for Everton a great deal so far this season, attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson should start.
Denmark can call upon a group of talented players including Kasper Schmeichel, Andreas Christensen, Christian Eriksen, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Martin Braithwaite, and Yussuf Poulsen.
Iceland will come into this game full of confidence having won their European Championship play off semi-final against Romania. However, this is going to be a tougher test and we expect to see Denmark come away with a narrow victory.