England meet Croatia in their opening Group D match of Euro 2020 at Wembley Stadium, England.
With Scotland not playing Czech Republic until Monday (14 June), whoever wins here will go top of Group D for at least 24 hours.
Team News
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Harry Maguire is unlikely to be risked for England as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury suffered last month, whilst on club duty for Manchester United.
Jordan Henderson is another doubt as he continues to rebuild his fitness after three-and-a-half months out with a groin injury.
Gareth Southgate meanwhile could recall Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Mason Mount, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling who all sat out England’s friendly wins, following their participation for Chelsea and Manchester City in last month’s Champions League Final.
Croatia could be without Dejan Lovren due to an unspecified injury but otherwise have no other injury concerns to report.
Stat Attack
- England are unbeaten in five of their last eight meetings against Croatia (W4, D1, L3).
- Croatia have won just one of their last five clashes against England as the ‘away team’ (W1, D1, L3), with four of those clashes taking place at Wembley Stadium (W1, D1, L2).
- England won their only previous clash against Croatia at an European Finals tournament, defeating the Croatians 4-2 in Portugal in Euro 2004.
- Since the resumption of international football, Croatia have won just one of seven away matches in all competitions (W1, D1, L5), losing their last two away outings by 1-0 results to Slovenia and Belgium.
- England are looking to score from the penalty spot in two consecutive matches across all competitions for the first time since September 2015, in which Wayne Rooney scored penalties against San Marino and Switzerland in Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Prediction
With all three of their group matches on home soil and a versatile squad, England definitely will be full of belief coming into this match, although tactics will be their biggest concern because of questions surrounding Maguire’s fitness.
Either way, Southgate has a number of interesting decisions to make because there are some quality stars like Jack Grealish and Declan Rice pushing for starts, alongside returning faces like Sterling and Mount plus questions over formation and need to justify his snub of Jesse Lingard.
Croatia meanwhile are no longer the strong force that they were in recent years and are in pretty inconsistent form, especially defensively which could be vulnerable if England get their tactics nailed and are able to maximise their attacking opportunities.
A draw therefore would be a decent result as far as Croatia are concerned but home advantage should give England that extra motivation they need for victory here, although they must nail their tactics and formation first.
Prediction: England 2-1 Croatia
