The final fixture is here and we have a HUGE GAME where survival and a ticket to the next round is on the line. England and Croatia are both tied with 4 pts behind Spain who have 6 pts and a winner of this match could get into the next round, but at the same time a loss or even a draw gets one of these nations relegated! This is the third time that these nations meet in 2018 with Croatia knocking England out of the World Cup and the First Nations League fixture between these teams ending in a 0-0 draw. England have shown great form recently having beaten Spain 2-3 and USA in a friendly 3-0, however they still have a job to do as they’ll seek to get a sweet revenge against Croatia who’ve shown resurgence on Thursday with their 3-2 win over Spain. This shapes up to be a very intense game between two of the top European sides!
Key Facts
England have only lost 1 of their previous 14 games at Wembley. 9W 4D 1L.
Harry Kane is currently enduring a 7 game goal drought for his country.
England have a 3W 4D 3L record against League A opposition in their last 10 games against such. 8 of those games had under 2.5 goals. (90 mins).
7 of England’s last 10 games had under 2.5 goals after 90 mins.
Marcus Rashford has scored 3 goals in his last 4 starts for England.
England have showed improved defending with 3 clean sheets in their last 4 games.
Croatia have had an edge over England in elimination games having beaten them in 2007 to end their hopes of qualifying to the Euros and then knocking them out of the World Cup this year.
Croatia have only kept 1 clean sheet in their previous 10 games. 19 goals conceded in that run (1.9 per game).
Croatia’s Win over Spain was their first competitive win in 90 mins since their last group stage game at the World Cup.
Croatia have lost 5 of their previous 7 away games having won just 1 and drawn 1.
On average there are 3.3 goals scored in Croatia’s last 10 games (90 mins). Entertainers.
Croatia have a 3W 4D 3L record against League A opposition in their last 10 fixture against such.
Both of England and Croatia games had under 2.5 goals extra times excluded in 2018 (1-1, 0-0).
Team News
England: Southgate rotated his side on Thursday against USA where England won 3-0. We saw the likes of Sancho, Wilson, Alexander-Arnold and many other 2nd string players start in that game. Pickford and Alli were the only first teamers who started and only Pickford is expect to stay in the starting lineup here. The likes of Kane, Sterling, Rashford, Walker etc are all expected to return into the starting lineup, in fact we’re likely going to see the same lineup as the one that beat Spain last month from Gareth Southgate.
Croatia: Croatia have been dealt with a huge blow as Ivan Rakitic picked up an injury and won’t be able to play here. Luckily for them they have a top class replacement in Matteo Kovacic who is expected to replace Rakitic in the starting line-up. Elsewhere there’s nothing to report, don’t expect any other serious changes from the Spain game, Croatia finally got it together and there’s just no point switching up what worked on Thursday. Expect all stars to play apart from the mentioned Rakitic.
Betting Tips and Predictions
We anticipate a very feisty game here. With so much on the line we can expect bookings for sure here. 5+ bookings is what we’re expecting so if you’re given a cards over, we’d advise you to take it. Furthermore this should be a pretty close game that will either end as a draw or a 1 goal win either way. Now we have England as favourites at 1.87 and Croatia tipped at 4.25. This comes as no surprise as England have shown better football recently and dominated Croatia away from home however we won’t back them because they have a track record of messing up when it really counts. We will back an under 2.5 goals however at 1.80. Expect both sides to feel the jitters and not really go for it considering that 1 goal would put either side in BIG trouble.. This game will be decided by one mistake and it will end 1-0 either way is what we’re thinking here.
Match Odds (TonyBet)
England Win – 1.87
Draw – 3.85
Croatia Win – 4.25
KICK OFF – 18th November 2018 – 2pm UK Time
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