Croatia U21 vs England U21 Predictions

England are preparing to depart the Under 21 European Championships, following back to back defeats for the Young Lions. Their hapless loss to Romania on Friday has left many criticising Aidy Boothroyd, given the talent he has at his disposal. However, the former Watford manager has at least one more game left as he prepares to lead the team out for their meeting with Croatia this week. Can they see off a nation who the senior side have met three times in the last 12 months?

Croatia are also heading home from the Euros, so it seems hard to imagine either of these two sides kicking on from here. They are aiming to restore a little pride following two defeats at this tournament, which hasn’t done much to boost the senior side’s fortunes. Of course, Croatia’s senior team made the World Cup final in 2018, beating England to make it to the showpiece clash in Russia.

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.