Tuchel warns England against arrogance as Croatia seek revenge for 7-0 humiliation

Thomas Tuchel has warned England not to underestimate Croatia following a 'freak' 7-0 win over this week's opponents last month.

England welcome Croatia to Wembley on Thursday night in the UEFA Nations League. The fixture is the reverse match from last month's clash in Rijeka, when England produced arguably their best performance of Tuchel's reign.

Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka each scored twice in a 7-0 win for the Three Lions, who became the first team to score five or more goals in an away fixture against Croatia. Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon and Jude Bellingham were also on target.

The win was a statement result from England and leaves them in contention to top the group. However, Tuchel has warned his squad not to underestimate Croatia in the return, insisting their seven-goal win was a 'one-off'.

"It was a deserved result, but it was a freak, a one-off. It did not reflect the quality and strength of the Croatia national team and they showed a reaction very quickly and they could have won the [next] game against Spain but conceded a late goal," he said at his pre-match press conference.

"Croatia is a proud country and a country full of quality. They want to show that it was a one-off and for us it is important to forget this result and not chase the same result. We have to match the intensity and be stronger in the intensity than the opponent and show up with the right intensity and right attitude to be able to win this match.

"This match matters to us 100%. We want to win this match to have a chance to win the group in Spain, that's where our focus is. We expect a reaction from Croatia and we have to start with the same humbleness and show up with a top team performance.

"In football anything can happen. A result like this should not give us one per cent of arrogance or over-confidence, why would it? We should be courageous and self-confident enough to admit it was a deserved result, but big teams respond and Croatia are a big team, they have shown this in many tournaments.

"We start from scratch, we start from 0-0. Croatia is a technical team, an emotional team, that's what Croatia represents, individual players who are proud to play for the country. I expect a reaction and don't expect a result like in the first match."