The extended international break is nearing and end, and England are back in action for the 3rd time in 7 days after losing to Spain, beating Czechia and now facing their World Cup group opponents Croatia, hoping to keep pace in the Nations League and keep in touch with Spain who currently lead the group. After beating Croatia in this summer in the World Cup clash, England will be feeling confident of another victory in this clash.

In our preview of the game we are going to take a look at the team news coming into the game including our predicted XI for this one, we will have a look at some of the key battles and players to watch and then of course we will make a prediction for how this one could play out.

If you have any thoughts on how this game might play out, or have any thoughts or opinions on England in general, get in touch with us on our social media platforms, Bluesky (@NextGoalWinner), Instagram (@NextGoalWin) and our YouTube channel (@NextGoalWinner).

Team News

England’s team selection has continued to be hampered by the early withdrawals of several likely starters of players who could feature, but a lot of their star names have already featured and will continue to do so for Saturday’s clash.

From the squad who started against Czechia on Tuesday, it could be a very similar line-up to play this one, possibly with a couple of tweaks in Konsa given a start ahead of Chalobah, Alex Scott could be given the nod ahead of Lewis-Skelly and it could be a debate over Rogers/Bellingham to start with Tuchel possibly looking to play them both at points in the XI.

It will be interesting to see if Trent will continue to feature, as he impressed with his assist for the opener against Czechia, and with a few players who could fill in the role, it could be a chance to cement his place back in the squad on a permanent basis after missing out this summer.

Predicted XI: Trafford, Hall, Guehi, Konsa, Trent, Scott, Anderson, Gordon, Bellingham, Saka, Kane

Key Battles

England vs Croatia feels like a game we have seen often in the last 10 years or so, and yet still they pose a tough proposition for many nations. Croatia may still have some aging names in their setup, but these are players who show little sign of slowing down towards the end of their careers and still have huge amounts of quality.

On England’s right side, it will be interesting to see the line-up of Trent-Saka against Gvardiol-Perisic, as the choice of Trent is a more attack-minded approach, but will need to be cautious over the experience of Perisic as he can certainly cause issues.

We may also see a midfield battle of Kovacic-Modric vs the likes of Anderson-Scott or possibly Lewis-Skelly depending on selection. This again could be a key battle as Kovacic is certainly able to make the game physical, and Modric is simply unstoppable on his day and could make taking control of the clash much more challenging.

Prediction

With England dominating the second half against Croatia in the World Cup, they will be filled with confidence after a fairly comfortable midweek victory, and given how Croatia have been underwhelming at the start of Slaven Bilic’s latest tenure, and so could take control early, and have an ‘on paper’ gulf in quality in their squad options, especially with impacts from the bench.

I predict this game could look cagey to begin with, and could open up in the second half. It may stay level until later on, but I think England will edge themselves ahead and add a late 3rd goal to see things out.

Croatia 1-3 England

Don’t forget to share your thoughts with us on our social platforms, and let us know your predictions for this evening’s game.