England XI vs Croatia – Predicted lineup and team news

England will press on with their UEFA Nations League campaign this Saturday as they travel to face Croatia at Stadion HNK Rijeka in an away fixture.

Under Thomas Tuchel, England have been building positive momentum, securing three wins from their last five games across all competitions. After a tight 3-2 defeat to Spain in their opening Nations League match, the Three Lions responded impressively with a 2-0 away win against Czechia in their most recent outing. England also go into this game with confidence from their head-to-head record, having beaten Croatia 4-2 at the 2026 World Cup just a few months earlier.

Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that his 24-man travelling squad is fully fit ahead of the match in Rijeka, although several established first-team players are not part of this group.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is expected to return to the starting lineup, replacing James Trafford as part of a planned rotation policy. In defence, Ezri Konsa has recovered from a minor knock, trained without problems on Friday, and is now the leading candidate to start alongside Marc Guéhi in the centre of defence.

England have had to manage some late changes to their squad. Manchester City's Nico O'Reilly has left the camp and will not be available for this fixture.

The team is also without a number of high-profile absentees who pulled out before the international window: Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, and Marcus Rashford. Even with these missing names, Tuchel still has a powerful attacking unit at his disposal, headlined by Harry Kane and supported by Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka.

Possible England starting XI: Pickford; Trent, Chalobah, Guehi, Hall; Anderson, Garner; Saka, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane

The match will kick off at 5pm BST on Saturday, 3rd October.

For viewers in the United Kingdom, the Croatia vs England Nations League match will be shown live and free of charge on ITV1.

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