England and Croatia meet in Rijeka with the Nations League A3 group finely poised, each side sitting on three points as Spain set the early pace after victories over England and the Czech Republic.
The third round fixture kicks off at 18:00 at Stadion Rujevica, where Thomas Tuchel’s England face a Croatia side led from midfield by Luka Modric. Spain lead the section following a 3-2 win at Wembley and a 4-1 home victory against the Czechs in Seville.
England arrive having created twice as many chances as Croatia across their opening two group matches. The teams’ approach to contested possession has also stood out, with the foul statistics pointing to a particularly intense battle in the midfield areas.
Modric leads reshaped Croatia
Slaven Bilic has made six alterations to his Croatia starting side, with Modric again the central figure in the Balkan midfield.
Stanisic, Vuskovic, Ivanovic, Baturina and Musa are among the players brought into the line-up. Smolcic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Misic, Pasalic and Beljo make way.
Tuchel refreshes England side
Tuchel has also rotated his England team, though less extensively than his opposite number after the Czech Republic match on Tuesday.
Jordan Pickford returns in goal, while Jarell Quansah and Ezri Konsa come into defence. Alex Scott and Jude Bellingham are selected in midfield, with Bellingham joining captain Harry Kane as the leading names in the Three Lions side.
James Trafford, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Trevoh Chalobah, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Morgan Rogers are not included in the starting XI for the trip to the Croatian coast.
