Please, try again later
The battle to avoid the humiliation of finishing bottom of the group, potentially without a single point, while neither of these teams can reach the final four there is plenty of pride at stake.
England were among the pre-tournament favourites so the pressure is on Aidy Boothroyd's side to pick up at least one victory from a campaign that started well against France but unravelled with the sending off of Hamza Choudhury.
While Croatia have lacked firepower, England have been left to rue what was an incredibly attacking squad selection, conceding six goals in two matches.
England’s youth sides have enjoyed a brilliant spell of results in recent years, but the under 21s are a real sticking point. There are plenty of explanations, with players cherry-picked from the team to go to the senior squad. The likes of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho could have done a lot at this tournament, but they’ve each been left out. Boothroyd has come in for a lot of criticism, while he’s dealing with the age group where players tend to stop developing. English clubs are so stacked with talent that their under 21 sides have always had issues.
England’s issues have been seen in their recent games, as they’ve lost three on the bounce. They’ve conceded eight times across those losses, while their last six games have seen both teams score. Given that their previous two encounters with Croatia have seen both teams find the net, we expect to see goals here. That comes with Croatia heading into this clash having leaked five goals in two matches in Italy this summer.
With nothing to play for between these two sides, we expect a more open game with plenty of goals. That’s what we’ve come to expect from the tournament so far, while England have seen both teams score and at least three goals in five of their last six matches. We can see a repeat of that here, with both teams showing clear issues in defence.