Day: November 14, 2018

Croatia seems to still be suffering from a major hangover after their World Cup run to the final and their fans would hope that things get better soon enough. They were beaten 6-0 by Spain in this reverse fixture, and could only get a point from their home game against England.

This game offers them the chance to get over their recent run of poor form, but it would be and unwise idea to bet on them beating Luis Enrique’s men.

When Croatia reached the final of the World Cup in Russia, they had one key characteristic, and that was their doggedness and ability to keep fighting until the final whistle.

However, they seem to have lost that after losing the competition’s final to France.

They have had a bad spell at the back and offer almost nothing when going forward, their fans would be wondering how they can break a defence with Sergio Ramos when they could beat poor Jordan by just a lone goal in their last friendly game.

Spain have banished their World Cup blues to start Luis Enrique’s tenure on a bright note. They may have been beaten by England in Seville in their last game, they remain a generously talented side. However, conceding 4 goals at home against England showed that they are also a side that is vulnerable at the back, and Croatia could take advantage of that.

Belgium has been on an upward trajectory since they named Roberto Martinez as their manager, and it seems that it is only a matter of time before this Golden generation of players delivers a trophy to their nation.

They have continued were they left off at the World Cup after winning third place.

They have won two of their Euro Nations League games so far and their fans would be expecting them to win a third consecutive game at home here.

They did draw with neighbors Netherlands, in a friendly in the last international window, but they should get maximum points in this game.

Belgium defeated Iceland 3-0 away in the reverse fixture and their performance against a more organized Switzerland side also shows that they are set to get all the points in this match.

Iceland have struggled to live up to the high expectations that their performances in recent years have placed on them.

Being grouped together with Switzerland and Belgium, it was always going to be a major hurdle for them, and when they were beaten 6-0 by the Swiss in their first game, they had set the tone for a poor showing in this competition.

They almost ran away with a win against France in their last Friendly game to show that they can still pull off a surprised win, however, we don’t expect them to start winning in this competition from this match as they have lost all their games so far.

It has been at least two years since Wayne Rooney retired from the English national team, but the Three Lions top scorer returns to the fold for this game.

While there is still ongoing debate about why he has been called to get a 120th cap, Gareth Southgate would be looking to prepare his team to get another win in this game.

The recall of Rooney makes this game appear like a testimonial, but the United States may take it even more seriously. They have not played a competitive game in over a year and they missed the World Cup in Russia. Dave Sarachan is still an interim manager and he has been testing a couple of young players, he would probably still do the same in this game, it would be interesting to see how that would turn out to be.

England are expected to continue building their squad following a strong World Cup performance and the victory over Spain in their last competitive game. The like of Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford could be given the chance to start this game, however, the Three Lions back may be their problem in this game.

The United States have scored in each of their last 12 away internationals and both teams have scored in 10 of their last 11 away games too.