Hungary welcome England to Puskas Arena in their opening clash of 2022-23 UEFA Nations League.
With Italy’s clash against Germany taking place later on Saturday evening, victory would see Hungary or England temporarily go top of Group 3 in League A.
Team News
Hungary have no fresh injury concerns to report with a full squad – including Barnsley’s Callum Styles available for selection.
England will be without Phil Foden after the midfielder tested positive for Coronavirus, which will also force him to skip Tuesday’s trip to Germany.
Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi are also ruled out through injury
Ben White (muscle) has withdrawn from the squad and will play no part in this month’s international fixtures, following his return to Arsenal for treatment.
Stat Attack
- This is Hungary’s first meeting against England in UEFA Nations League.
- Hungary are winless in their last 15 meetings against England in all competitions (D3, L12).
- England are unbeaten in their last six away matches against Hungary across all competitions (W4, D2).
- Hungary have scored twice in two of their last three home fixtures in the Nations League, with both goals in those two games scored after half-time (W1, D1, L1).
- England have kept three clean sheets in their last five away matches within the Nations League (W2, D2, L1).
Prediction
Given that this group contains England, Germany and Italy, Hungary definitely are underdogs in this quartet and must look to take advantage of their cheating of the stadium ban by inviting school children by virtue of free tickets if are to stand any chance of avoiding relegation.
England though will be viewing this group as ideal preparation for the World Cup given the tough quality opposition, yet can head into the game full of confidence after a clinical display against Ivory Coast in March and are currently in fierce form against Hungary.
Hungary though won’t make this an easy contest if they play as well as they did at Northern Ireland in March, although I do fancy England to get the job done if they play their best football because this is a must-win especially with Germany and Italy to come within the next seven days.
Prediction: Hungary 1-2 England
Result: Hungary 1-0 England