The UEFA Nations League 2020/2021 Discussion Thread

[tyKiwanuka]

Source: https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_912,h_516,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/uefa-nations-league-draw-others-5e5e911212eb9ad875000001.jpg

This competition was already a bit weird during normal times and I am not sure, if anyone really needs this during these difficult times. But anyway, you can bet on it, so lets use this thread to discuss the games and maybe find some good bets.


The Schedule


Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%9321_UEFA_Nations_League

This shows already the madness - Finals one year later, play-outs even 1.5 years


League A

Group A1	Group A2	Group A3	Group A4
___________________	___________________	___________________	___________________
Netherlands	England	Portugal	Switzerland
Italy	Belgium	France	Spain
Bosnia & Herzegovina	Denmark	Sweden	Ukraine
Poland	Iceland	Croatia	Germany

Group winners will move into Finals, last placed teams will relegate to League B.

League B

Group B1	Group B2	Group B3	Group B4
___________________	___________________	___________________	___________________
Austria	Czech Republic	Russia	Wales
Norway	Scotland	Serbia	Finland
Northern Ireland	Slovakia	Turkey	Ireland
Romania	Israel	Hungary	Bulgaria

Group winners will promote to League A, last placed teams will relegate to League C.

League C

Group C1	Group C2	Group C3	Group C4
___________________	___________________	___________________	___________________
Montenegro	Georgia	Greece	Albania
Cyprus	North Macedonia	Kosovo	Belarus
Luxembourg	Estonia	Slovenia	Lithuania
Azerbaijan	Armenia	Moldova	Kazakhstan

Group winners will promote to League B, last placed teams will have play-outs to relegate to League D.

League D

Group D1	Group D2
___________________	___________________
Faroe Island	Gibraltar
Latvia	Liechtenstein
Andorra	San Marino
Malta

Group winners will promote to League C, last placed teams will have to fear nothing


The Odds


Source: https://www.bet365.com/#/AC/B1/C172/D1/E47096511/F2/

This is not very interesting right now, so just for the record

There will be tons of matches next weekend already and among them some interesting ones (well that depends very much on your personal taste in the end), like Germany vs Spain, Portugal vs Croatia, Denmark vs Belgium, Sweden vs France etc. Most of these matches will be played behind closed doors for the time being afaik, so this will be a bit more difficult to predict like could be seen in the various european leagues and competitions already. The motivation of the teams is a big question mark, although this league has some implications for the 2022 World Cup qualification. I guess we will see some surprise results already in first round, you just have to spot them, which is not easy

Happy discussing and predicting

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[casperBGD]

must say that did not followed this competition during last/first time that it was played, and could not say that i will follow it now, but will bet on it for sure, because there will be no meaningful football alternatives during nations league play-days

quotes for a winner seem to provide info that there is no real favorite, although the final match is really a distant future, and it is harsh to pick some team as best for that moment

thanks for putting the subject to prediction/discussion

[leea-1334]

I was very sure there was already a topic about this somewhere,,, should we not try to keep everything in one thread so we can continue conversations if possible? Or am I thinking of some other competition maybe, I tried digging but my eyes miss it. When was the last Nations League game?

[tyKiwanuka]

The last game was in June 2019, when Portugal beat the Netherlands in the 2018/2019 edition. I used the search to see, if there is already an existing thread (UNL in general or 2020/2021 one), but to no success, so I opened a new one for this edition, which can be turned into general UNL thread at a later point as well.

But can also lock/delete, if there is an existing thread, that I missed.

[LTU_btc]

I can't say that I'm waiting for upcoming international window. Nations League is really strange tournament which is made to replace friendly games. I don't think that in current situation there is big need to stop national leagues to play in tournament which have almost zero importance. Other case would be qualifiers. And I still didn't even figured how exactly teams can qualify to EURO to this tournament .
But there is at least one good thing made by global pandemic. My national team now haven't lost in 10 months .
@tyKiwanuka, as far as I remember, there was general thread dedicated for national teams where all competitions like qualifiers, Nations League and friendly games were discussed.

[swogerino]

The games will be played without crowds and the most determining factor when National teams are playing for me is the supporting of home fans.If the stadiums will be empty there will be no real emotion and maybe the players will not feel that motivated.I don’t expect a lot of beautiful games from this league.

[tyKiwanuka]

And I still didn't even figured how exactly teams can qualify to EURO to this tournament .

Me neither and it's quite difficult, so I guess even the teams will not know what to do

It's basically, if you didn't win your UEFA World cup qualifying group and also didn't finish as a runner-up in your group there, BUT you won your UNL group, then you will be put into the playoff-path, if you have a good enough UNL ranking. Two teams from UNL will get added to the playoffs that way (to make it 12 playoff teams in total).

Lets say France wins their UNL group and maybe the whole competition. In UEFA WC qualifying, they only finish 3rd in their group. They will then be eligible for the playoffs (with the 10 runner-ups and one additional team from UNL). At least thats how I understood it....

[masulum]

Paul Pogba reported positive COVID-19, because of this he will be missed matches between France vs Swedia and Croatia next month. His position replaced by Rennes player Eduardo Camavinga.

[Renampun]

Paul Pogba reported positive COVID-19, because of this he will be missed matches between France vs Swedia and Croatia next month. His position replaced by Rennes player Eduardo Camavinga.

Pogba was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 through tests and was immediately removed from the French national team squad. Apart from Pogba, midfielder Tanguy Ndombele (Tottenham Hotspur) was also released from the squad because he was positive for the Coronavirus.

like it's not only Pogba infected, Ndombele too...
This news will definitely make MU and Hotspur fans especially sad. hopefully, before the EPL starts, Pogba and Ndombele will be healed and can play to defend the team and also their country.

[LTU_btc]

At least thats how I understood it....

Yeah, I understand tournament format similar like you. Actually, I never bothered to look into it because from first glance it looks complicated.

The games will be played without crowds and the most determining factor when National teams are playing for me is the supporting of home fans.If the stadiums will be empty there will be no real emotion and maybe the players will not feel that motivated.I don’t expect a lot of beautiful games from this league.

It's pity that games will be played without fans in the stadium. I don't understand why they can't let limited number of spectators to watch game. Something like 20%-30% of stadium capacity. Empty stadiums is new normal in recent months, but for me it's still difficult to watch football without fans.

[DeathAngel]

Paul Pogba reported positive COVID-19, because of this he will be missed matches between France vs Swedia and Croatia next month. His position replaced by Rennes player Eduardo Camavinga.

Pogba was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 through tests and was immediately removed from the French national team squad. Apart from Pogba, midfielder Tanguy Ndombele (Tottenham Hotspur) was also released from the squad because he was positive for the Coronavirus.

like it's not only Pogba infected, Ndombele too...
This news will definitely make MU and Hotspur fans especially sad. hopefully, before the EPL starts, Pogba and Ndombele will be healed and can play to defend the team and also their country.

They’ll both be fine, they’re super fit, pro athletes in the prime of their lives. They probably aren’t even displaying symptoms but obviously it’s a good idea to keep them away from the other players in their squads.

[pikkie]

Paul Pogba reported positive COVID-19, because of this he will be missed matches between France vs Swedia and Croatia next month. His position replaced by Rennes player Eduardo Camavinga.

well there are already some people who are indicated by covid and in my opinion this virus will be more widespread if there is no very serious handling and if there are still matches then more will get infected with covid again, all soccer matches should be temporarily stopped to stop the spread of covid .

[masulum]

@Pikkie
when football is stopped again, more clubs will not be able to survive. bankruptcy threatens the association and football club if it is suspended for indefinite periods. separating those who positive COVID-19 is the best way to keep the other players healthy. You don't have to stop football, the health protocol is in place, it is just how the players and clubs are disciplined in implementing the protocol. If a player who is positive is being removed from the squad list, it because association want to protect other players. There are tests and detection tools for COVID, it's just how to make sure the players are healthy before competing, I think everything will be okay.

[Juggy777]

Paul Pogba reported positive COVID-19, because of this he will be missed matches between France vs Swedia and Croatia next month. His position replaced by Rennes player Eduardo Camavinga.

Pogba was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 through tests and was immediately removed from the French national team squad. Apart from Pogba, midfielder Tanguy Ndombele (Tottenham Hotspur) was also released from the squad because he was positive for the Coronavirus.

like it's not only Pogba infected, Ndombele too...
This news will definitely make MU and Hotspur fans especially sad. hopefully, before the EPL starts, Pogba and Ndombele will be healed and can play to defend the team and also their country.

They’ll both be fine, they’re super fit, pro athletes in the prime of their lives. They probably aren’t even displaying symptoms but obviously it’s a good idea to keep them away from the other players in their squads.

@DeathAngel I’m gutted to know that Pogba has got this virus, and I wish that he recovers quickly and emerges stronger to play for Manchester United. Also I’m puzzled as Southgate is allowing Chelsea player’s to join the England camp by ignoring the 14 day quarantine rule, don’t you’ll think that he’s risking the entire squad by his decision?.

Sky Sports News can confirm a number of unnamed Chelsea players - including Mount and Abraham - are following government guidelines on self-isolation, disrupting Frank Lampard's pre-season preparations.

But as things stand, England boss Gareth Southgate has been told there is no reason why Mount and Abraham will not be available to report for duty at St George's Park in four days' time.

Source:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11668/12057626/mount-abraham-among-chelsea-players-in-quarantine

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8671005/Gareth-Southgates-plans-Englands-double-header-disarray-squad-members-test-positive.html

[TedMosby]

Paul Pogba reported positive COVID-19, because of this he will be missed matches between France vs Swedia and Croatia next month. His position replaced by Rennes player Eduardo Camavinga.

as a united fan, I am shocked to know this news. I wish him the best.

Rennes Eduardo Camavinga only 17 years old, I don't know this player. he must be special.

idk about the rules of this tournament. so, if he excluded from the team, it will remain until the ends of this tournament?
and also, is this tournament just like second tier football tournament for European country? (the first tier is EURO 2012 right?)
just like UEFA cup and Champions League?
CMIIW.

[LTU_btc]

well there are already some people who are indicated by covid and in my opinion this virus will be more widespread if there is no very serious handling and if there are still matches then more will get infected with covid again, all soccer matches should be temporarily stopped to stop the spread of covid .

Are you kidding? Football shouldn't be stopped, now every football league have strict protocols how to handle this situation, they are testing players very often. If 1-2 players or staff members of team get positive test, they go into quarantine, if there is more infected people, game of this team is postponed to later date. When major football leagues were restarted in June, there was no problems with spread of virus. If you're interested, there you can find full UEFA COVID-19 protocol:
https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/0260-100c6fba8eba-9422fa7320b1-1000/annex_i_to_2020-21_ucl-uel_regs_covid19_en_20200804093248.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0MUmamZIsdoYOA9d33LGXN7Oxrm4Yn8dyFXlo3u3rx1OL_tdnJfaswnbE
Seems that virus won't disappear soon, so we have to learn how to live with it, instead of closing everything.

and also, is this tournament just like second tier football tournament for European country? (the first tier is EURO 2012 right?)
just like UEFA cup and Champions League?
CMIIW.

Nope, it's not second tier tournament. Basically, it's made to replace boring international friendly games and made it more competetive and interesting. There is few qualifying spots to EURO 2020 given there, so I would call it extra EURO qualifiers torunament.

[casperBGD]

Germany will play Spain in Stuttgart tomorrow, which is the most interesting match for Thursday, but i cannot see me gambling on that one, my picks will be

Ukraine - Switzerland - home win, think that Ukraine had a good team, they proved that in Euro qualifications, and home terrain will give them motivation and advantage in these difficult times for sport
Russia - Serbia - both-to-score, and home win with beer money
Slovenia - Greece - home win, these two will fight for top spot and advantage to league B, since Moldova and Kosovo are far worst teams than these two and home win is more than important for Slovenia, if they would like to claim top spot

[Trofo]

Was just searching for a place to read/write something about Nations league and wondering if there is something or I have to make a topic Good job tyK

My first take on games today without any deep analyses just by gut feeling:
Germany - Spain - match of the day and I have to put something on this one to make watching more interesting. For now I am set on both to score @1.75
Finaland - Wales - both to score @2.0, I have a feeling there will be goals here since best players from both teams have something to prove (Pukki, Bale)
Kosovo to win @ 1.5 I think Kosovo will continue to grow as a team and combined with their strong national pride they should win games like this one

That will be my multi to start the day and I will wait for the line ups before I place any high stake bets.

[LTU_btc]

Kosovo to win @ 1.5 I think Kosovo will continue to grow as a team and combined with their strong national pride they should win games like this one

I'm pretty sure about Kosovo win. Moldova is weakest team in the group, while I expect that Kosovo can fight for first places with Greece and Slovenia.
I also go with Ukrain win @2.45 against Switzerland. Not sure odds for their win is so high. They been very solid in Euro qualifiers, they beat Portugal and trashed Serbia.

[big_daddy]

Was just searching for a place to read/write something about Nations league and wondering if there is something or I have to make a topic Good job tyK

My first take on games today without any deep analyses just by gut feeling:
Germany - Spain - match of the day and I have to put something on this one to make watching more interesting. For now I am set on both to score @1.75
Finaland - Wales - both to score @2.0, I have a feeling there will be goals here since best players from both teams have something to prove (Pukki, Bale)
Kosovo to win @ 1.5 I think Kosovo will continue to grow as a team and combined with their strong national pride they should win games like this one

That will be my multi to start the day and I will wait for the line ups before I place any high stake bets.

I was searching a place too  , good to have a separate topic for this tournament

I'll go for Germany to win against Spain and Slovenia to win against Greece
Kosovo to win? yes, I agree with you, I was thinking to add this pair with a handicap also, but those two above are more then enough for today