Key events
The last time England met Finland – no spoilers, but a link to the match report can be found in the preamble – was also the second game of Sven-Göran Eriksson’s reign. Wembley will pay its respects to the beloved former England boss, who passed away last month, before the match. Today’s matchday programme also pays tribute to Eriksson.
Finland, ranked 63rd in the world, name a starting XI that includes a couple of familiar faces. Teemu Pukki, formerly of Celtic and Norwich but now at Minnesota United, leads the line; Glen Kamara, once of Dundee, Rangers and Leeds and now with Rennes, patrols the midfield. Young Aberdeen winger Topi Keskinen wins his second cap, while Exeter City defender Ilmari Niskanen is on the bench.
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).
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! ♬ ♪ ♬