Sports Mole anticipates Saturday’s UEFA Nations League clash between Portugal and Croatia, including team news and expected lineups.
UEFA Nations League holders Portugal will start the 2020-21 League A Group 3 season with a home match against Croatia Saturday evening.
Portugal beat Holland in last year’s final to claim the title, but Croatia failed to impress in the same tournament as they only achieved one win in four games.
Game preview
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Portugal triumphed in the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, beating Switzerland in the semi-finals of the competition before recording a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in last June’s final.
It would be fair to say that the nation’s main focus is preparation for next summer’s European Championships, but they will still be eager to make another impression in this competition.
Fernando SantosThe team have won seven of their last eight games in all competitions, including a 2-0 win at Luxembourg in their last game in November 2019.
Portugal qualified for the European Championship thanks to second place in Group B, and are the reigning champions, having overtaken the holders of France in the 2016 final.
Una Selecao will continue her UEFA Nations League campaign against Sweden on 8 September, while on 7 October she is scheduled for a glamorous friendly against Spain.
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Croatia, meanwhile, will also be present at next summer’s European Championships, having finished first in Group E, collecting 17 points from eight games during a strong qualifying campaign.
Undefeated in their last six official matches, Vatreni will also enter this match in good shape and there is no doubt that they are a team to be taken seriously on the world stage.
Zlatko Dalic he insisted before this match that the UEFA Nations League is “important”, but he wanted to stress that the nation’s main focus is on the upcoming World Cup and European Championships qualifiers.
Croatia, who have lost four of their previous five games against Portugal, will continue their UEFA Nations League campaign in France on 8 September before taking on Sweden on 11 November.
As mentioned, the 2018 World Cup finalists failed to impress in the 2018-19 competition, scoring only one win in their four games against Spain and England.
State of form Portugal Nations League: WDDWW
Form Portugal (all competitions): WWWLWW
State of form of the Nations League of Croatia: LDWL
Form Croatia (all competitions): WDWDWW
Team news
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Portugal boss Santos is expected to send a strong XI onto the pitch, with Cristiano Ronaldo ready to win his 165th appearance, and will seek his 100th goal for the national team.
New young Barcelona player Trincao was included in the squad and could play a role while the goalkeeper of Granada Rui Silva and the defender of Granada Domingos Duarte they might even make their first appearances.
Bruno Fernandes ended the season in a scary way for Manchester United and will start in midfield, while that of Manchester City Bernardo silva and Wolverhampton Wandererers’ Ruben Neves both should be present.
However, there will be some notable absentees for Croatia, with neither Luka Modric neither Ivan Rakitic in pink for the clashes with Portugal and France.
Ivan Perisic he is expected to play despite representing Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, and there will still be many familiar faces in the visiting XI.
Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic risks becoming part of Inter Marcelo Brozovic in the middle of the park, meanwhile Bruno Petkovic should get the nod in the middle, having found the bottom of the net on five occasions in just eight appearances for the national team.
Former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren should also appear for Croatia as part of a back four.
Possible starting lineup of Portugal:
Patricio; Semedo, Fonte, Dias, Warrior; Neves, Danilo, Fernandes; Ronaldo, A Silva, B Silva
Possible starting lineup of Croatia:
Livakovic; Jedvaj, Lovren, Caleta-Car, Barisic; Brozovic, Kovacic; Perisic, Vlasic, Rebic; Petkovic
Let’s say: Portugal 2-1 Croatia
This is a very, very difficult match to call between two strong teams. Both will feel they can cause problems in the last third of the pitch, but it is difficult for us to look beyond Portugal at home, ultimately supporting them to shade a close match in Porto.
