Tense Finish in Nations League A Group 4
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The UEFA Nations has been set up to avoid meaningless international friendly matches and it has worked. We have seen some excellent games between teams of a similar standard and Nations League A, Group 4 is a fine example.
There is just one match left in this group containing Spain, England and Croatia. Spain are currently top on 6 points, with England second on 4 points and Croatia third also on 4 points but with a -5 goal difference.
On the 18th November, England will play Croatia are Wembley knowing both first place in the group and relegation are still on the table.
England have played three, won one, drawn one and lost one of their three UEFA Nations League matches. The Three Lions started with a home defeat at the hands of the Spanish. Despite taking the lead after 11 minutes, England went on to lose the game 2-1 before heading to Croatia and picking up a point in a 0-0 draw behind closed doors.
The best was still to come for England and having already lost to Spain at home, no one was expecting them to get anything from the away fixture. However, England produced an excellent performance, especially on the counter-attack, to seal a 3-2 win.
Having lost at home to Spain, England have remained unbeaten in their last four games, including the results above in the Nations League plus a 1-0 win over Switzerland and 3-0 victory over USA, the latter of which came on Thursday night.
Croatia reached the final of the 2018 World Cup and following the loss against France in the final they were held to a 1-1 draw with Portugal in a friendly. However, worse was to come and Croatia lost their first Nations League match 6-0 away to Spain. It was a massive shock for Croatian football but things improved with a 0-0 draw at home to England in the second match.
The World Cup runners-up seemed out of contention in the group but picked up a good 3-2 to home win against Spain on Thursday night thanks to a late goal and travel to Wembley knowing they can still win the group.
Croatia have played one friendly game since the start of the Nations League and defeated Jordan 2-1 at home. Away form shows Croatia have won just one of their last six games.
Looking ahead to the team news and England will bring back Harry Kane to start up-front having been rested for the USA match. Kyle Walker, John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford could also start the game having missed out on Thursday.
Croatia could start with the same team that defeated Spain on Thursday. Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic will play in central midfield while Ante Rebic, Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric will lead the attack.
This should be a great game, with both teams knowing they can win the group. Expect to see goals at both ends of the pitch but England are strong at home and could win the game to seal the group.
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