England prepare to take on their World Cup foe Croatia at Wembley on Sunday afternoon, knowing that a win will secure passage through to the UEFA Nations League finals.
Both sides come into the game off the back of victories, England claiming a convincing 3-0 win over the USA on Wayne Rooney’s farewell to international football whilst Croatia pulled off an impressive last-minute victory against Nations League rivals Spain.
That win for the World Cup finalists now means the upcoming fixture is of the utmost importance to both sides, with a win for either nation, securing top spot of Group A4 and a loss spelling certain relegation.
Since playing their first competitive fixture in 1994, Croatia have faced England nine times, with the Three Lions just edging the contest four wins to three, with two draws. The most memorable battle was of course this summer’s World Cup semi-final, in which Croatia recovered from an early Kieran Trippier free-kick to triumph 2-1 after extra-time.
Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick in this fixture back in 2008 as England ran out 4-1 winners (Photo: AP)
England, therefore, will be seeking revenge over Zlatko Dalic’s team who held England to a 0-0 draw behind closed doors in Rijeka last month. The same scoreline on Sunday will see Croatia relegated, whilst a score draw will see England relegated with both results seeing the top spot go to Spain.
Dejan Lovren has also added fuel to the fire by suggesting that the encounter will be far from friendly, these comments coming just hours after labelling Sergio Ramos and his Spain side ‘pu***ies’.
England will be without Kieran Trippier and Danny Welbeck who both withdrew from the squad, Welbeck facing a long-term absence after suffering a broken ankle in Arsenal’s Europa League game against Sporting Lisbon.
Gareth Southgate is expected to make a number of changes to the team who defeated the US, recalling key figures such as Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and John Stones.
Tin Jedvaj’s 93rd minute winner against Spain set up this winner takes all encounter (Photo: AFP)
Dalic will forced to make at least one change from the side who beat Spain 3-2 in midweek after Ivan Rakitic suffered a thigh injury in the victory and has returned home to his parent club Barcelona.
Prediction: This promises to be a competitive encounter with both teams knowing a win will see them top the group, however, Southgate’s England may just have too much in front of a packed Wembley crowd.
England 2 Croatia 1
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