On Monday, in the last-16 stage of Euro 2020 Spain will face Croatia and will aim to improve on their five-star performance in their last match at the European Championship. Croatia, who was ousted at this point of the 2016 tournament, placed second in Group D behind England and La Roja finished second in Group E, qualifying for the knockout phase. Here is all you need to know about Croatia vs Spain prediction and lineup for Euro 2020 last-16 match.
Team news
Croatia lineup: Livakovic; Vrsaljko, Lovren, Vida, Gvardiol; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Vlasic, Petkovic, Perisic
To advance for the round of 16 on Nikola Vlasic’s first start of the tournament, Croatia defeated Scotland 3-1. He’ll be hoping to keep his spot here.
Dejan Lovren appears to have displaced Duje Caleta-Car at centre-back for Croatia, with Josko Gvardiol ready to take over at left-back if Borna Barisic remains injured.
Sime Vrsaljko will look to restore his starting spot at right-back after missing the match against Scotland.
Bruno Petkovic and Andrej Kramaric are vying for a spot in Croatia’s starting lineup.
Spain lineup: Simon; Azpilicueta, Laporte, Torres, Alba; Pedri, Busquets, Koke; Sarabia, Morata, G Moreno
Luis Enrique appears set on keeping Alvaro Morata in the starting lineup despite missing a penalty.
Heading into the knockout stage, Koke and Pedri hold a clear advantage over the rest of Spain‘s midfielders.
After replacing Marcos Llorente in Wednesday’s 5-0 triumph over Slovakia, Cesar Azpilicueta should preserve his right-back spot.
Pau Torres will look to restore his starting spot from Eric Garcia against Croatia on Monday.
In the match against Slovakia, Pablo Sarabia was named WhoScored Man of the Match, and he will be hoping to preserve his position in the side ahead of Gerard Moreno and Ferran Torres.
Croatia vs Spain prediction
Croatia won 3-1 against Scotland in their last group game to finish second and stepped up when it counted most.
Spain trounced Slovakia 5-0 in their final group match after back-to-back draws. It’s difficult to know what to think of them.
Croatia will undoubtedly put Luis Enrique’s Spain team to the test.
Croatia has the potential to make this a difficult match for Spain, and we anticipate a close match. Apart from the Scotland match, Croatia has struggled this summer, and Spain should have just enough to get to the competition’s quarter-finals.
Our Prediction: Croatia 1 – 2 Spain
