LIVE – Updated at 19:02 England vs Croatia LIVEAll eyes will be on Harry Kane tonight as England host Croatia in their penultimate Nations League game. The Three Lions skipper will tonight make history as the record appearance-maker for the men’s senior team, with his 126th cap.
He overtakes Peter Shilton, whose final game for England came at the 1990 World Cup.It is yet another staggering achievement for Kane, who has already shattered the goal record with 91 strikes to date, which is 38 more than previous holder Wayne Rooney.
Kane will also tonight lead his country out as captain for the 98th time, which is eight more than Billy Wright and Bobby Moore.Kane will parade the Ballon d’Or trophy, won 17 days ago down the road at the London Palladium, ahead of kick-off, before full focus will be on another win over Croatia as they look to hunt down Spain and top their Nations League group.
Follow the game LIVE below with our dedicated match blog, featuring expert insight and analysis from Dom Smith and Sam Tabuteau at Wembley.
England vs Croatia latest news Kick-off: 7.45pm GMT, WembleyHow to watchEngland XI: Burn and Trent startKane breaks all-time cap record Premier League duo out to stop Kane 18:52 , Alex Young There are several familiar Premier League faces in Croatia's starting line-up, including Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol and Brighton's Luka Vuskovic in central defence.
They will be out to (somewhat) spoil Harry Kane’s partner.Mateo Kovacic captains the side.Former Ballon d'Or winner Luka Modric has to settle for a place on the bench, while, as mentioned earlier, ex-Tottenham man Ivan Perisic misses out through suspension.Croatia have made four changes to the side that suffered a heavy 7-0 defeat against England last month.
History-maker Harry Kane 18:47 , Alex Young So, it’s official, Harry Kane is set to become England’s most-capped men’s player in history.Let’s hope something bad doesn’t happen between now and kick-off, which is in just under an hour.
Dom Smith at Wembley 18:42 , Alex Young I did fear Tuchel may bottle it somewhat and he has done, starting Dan Burn, 34 — only called up after injury to Marc Guehi — in favour of Jarrad Branthwaite.Only Branthwaite is part of England’s long-term future. Would have been the right time to test him in a serious game, I feel. Instead, Burn gets the nod. Croatia XI 18:41 , Alex Young ...and the visitors!
England XI 18:40 , Alex Young Here we go! 18:32 , Alex Young Sounds like Pickford has got the nod in goal for tonight. The full team will be with us shortly. 18:28 , Alex Young Harry Kane has arrived. Team news is imminent. How about Croatia?
18:25 , Alex Young Well, they are fearing the worst after last month’s devastating 7-0 home defeat to England.Focusing on two of Harry Kane’s former Tottenham team-mates, Ivan Perisic is suspended after his red card last time out against Spain in Split.Many in Croatia are writing this game off, with calls to rest legendary 41-year-old Luka Modric for the crunch clash with the Czech Republic on Sunday. 'It gives me
great hope for the future' 18:20 , Alex Young Roy Hodgson has his say on the squad and England’s future.“I don't see any weaknesses in the England team.
I don't look at it and think, ‘Well, they're going to struggle here because they don't have that type of centre half, that type of full back, that type of central midfielder’,” Hodgson told The Jeff Stelling Show, produced by OLBG.“I see there's a choice everywhere to fill those positions as I certainly would like to fill them, and I see Thomas Tuchel filling them.
So it gives me great hope for the future.“The big question is whether they'll get the success that everyone expects, because they'll go in there with France and Spain, and perhaps Portugal, as enormous favourites.
And those teams, when they play the opposition they're going to meet, will often dominate the game.“But then you get to the situation you've had for a number of years, even going back to the time I was managing the team: you're meeting a lot of teams that don't really feel they can compete with you on a toe to toe basis.
Their only way of competing is making certain they stop you from scoring, making life difficult for you, and maybe hoping they get a break.” Who will start in goal? 18:10 , Alex Young One interesting team news tidbit ahead of the game concerns the goalkeepeer. Who will Thomas Tuchel favour tonight?The England manager has a choice to make between Jordan Pickford and James
Source: Evening Standard via MSN
