Group D action at the EURO 2020 starts with a mouth-watering matchup as England hosts Croatia at Wembley. The Three Lions will be looking for revenge after Croatia beat them in the World Cup semifinal three years ago.
Harry Kane is expected to be among the frontrunners for the tournament’s Golden Boot and bookmaker 10Bet has the odds at 2.30 for the England captain to start scoring straight away.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: June 12th, 7:30 P.M. (EST)
Kane netted a 2-1 winner in the UEFA Nations League against Croatia a few months after Mario Mandzukic had dropped England from World Cup contention with an extra-time goal, so Gareth Southgate’s men have had their mini-revenge but this will be a much more important fixture.
England will be desperate to start off the tournament with three points as they have been slow starters at previous European Championships. In fact, England have never won their opening group game at the Euros in eight tries. The 2016 edition, which ended in tears against Iceland, started with a 1-1 draw against Russia.
Under the guidance of Southgate, England have grown a lot over the last five years with the team adding tournament experience at the Nations League finals to their World Cup run. Compared to the last World Cup, England also has a lot more quality in the side with the likes of Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho coming through.
Croatia will no doubt feel jealous of England’s pool of talent as the team’s overall quality has significantly dropped since reaching the World Cup final in 2018. Mandzukic is among the veterans who have stepped aside and there hasn’t been an emergence of a promising younger generation.
Manager Zlatko Dalic has started a rebuilding process and the results aren’t great with the team winning only four times in 13 outings since international football resumed last September. They’ve also had just two clean sheets during the run, which is a very worrying sign here ahead of a clash with Kane’s squad.
To make matters even worse, Dejan Lovren is struggling with an injury and is very unlikely to play on Sunday. He has his fair share of doubters, but the former Liverpool man has never let his national team down and his partnership with Domagoj Vida in central defense has been one of the big reasons behind Croatia’s success.
