Croatia vs Scotland preview: Win or bust for Group D rivals

Group D: Croatia vs Scotland, kick-off 8pm (UK time, ITV 4)

It is win or go home as Croatia and Scotland face off in a Euro 2020 humdinger at Hampden Park.

Thanks to results on Monday, both sides know that victory in Glasgow will be enough to see them through to the last-16 with four points, even if they finish third behind England and the Czech Republic. 

But stalemate between Steve Clarke and Zlatko Dalic's men would result in an early exit for both winless Group D nations. 

The current European Championship format has faced a lot of criticism for watering down the group stages, yet it means it is all to play for tonight.

Story so far

After being narrowly edged out in their opening game against England, there was still belief among the Croatia camp that they could comfortably progress to the round of 16.

But a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic has threatened to stop them in their tracks. 

After going a goal down thanks to a dubious VAR penalty decision, Ivan Perisic levelled the scores with a thunderous strike.

Despite the Croatians’ late flurry of attacks and crosses into the box, they were unable to score a winner.

Scotland, however, can take great pride from their two performances so far in the tournament. The 2-0 defeat in their first game against the Czech Republic flattered their opposition, after Clarke’s men missed a host of chances.

They then followed that up with a morale-boosting 0-0 draw with England, putting in a performance that belied their underdog status.

O’Donnell hoping to star again

Stephen O’Donnell left Wembley on Friday night with a gleaming smile on his face. It was a night to remember for the Motherwell defender after a stand-out performance at right wing-back.

The 29-year-old was praised for keeping Raheem Sterling and substitute Jack Grealish quiet for the duration of the game and revealed the strange lengths he went to in order to minimise the Aston Villa man’s impact.

He said: “The whole time he (Grealish) was on I was telling him how good-looking he was and that I loved his calves.”

The Motherwell defender will be as important in the tie against Croatia. As well as his defensive duties, he will hope to cause Josko Gvardiol, a centre-half playing out of position at left-back, plenty of problems on his side of the pitch.

Rebic ready

Ante Rebic was one the 2018 World Cup’s breakout stars.

The forward has since moved to Milan and become a mainstay in the Rossoneri’s attack, with double-figure goal tallies in his first two seasons in Italy.

However, Rebic is yet to show the form this summer that gained him so many plaudits back in 2018.

After a lacklustre display in their opening tie against England, he again failed to impress against the Czech Republic and was substituted at half-time.

Rebic possesses a sense of unpredictability that we are yet to see at Euro 2020, but boss Dalic will be hoping he comes to the fore in a must-win encounter.

Gilmour a big miss

You would be excused for not believing that Friday evening’s clash with England was Billy Gilmour's first senior Scotland start.

The Chelsea midfielder put in a performance to remember, winning UEFA’s Star of the Match.

Gilmour, 20, was particularly effective in a box-to-box role – achieving a passing accuracy of 90.7%, while also successfully making three interceptions.

So the news that he has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss the Croatia match will come as a big blow to Scotland’s hopes, leaving a void in their midfield at the worst possible time.

The Scots have options to take his place, but whether they possess the same quality as the young Gilmour is a different question entirely

Scotland goal must come

Clarke’s side are the only team in the European Championship still yet to score a goal, but it’s certainly not for the want of trying.

They had a host of chances in their tournament opener against Czech Republic, striking the woodwork on more than one occasion as they outperformed their opponents when it came to expected goals (2.31 vs 0.91), despite losing 2-0.

Scotland also had chances against England but failed to make any of them count.

They’ll need to be more clinical tonight if they’re to stand any chance of reaching the tournament’s latter stages.